A (slightly) greener ship. the MSC World Europe, the first liner powered by LNG (liquefied natural gas) to be built in France, was delivered to Saint-Nazaire (Loire-Atlantique) on Monday. Described as the least polluting building of the world fleet, compared to its weight, this liner must soon leave for Qatar where it will serve as a floating hotel during the World Cup.
“The innovative technologies we create here to use on our vessels can benefit all of society not just the cruise industry or the shipping sector overall” pic.twitter.com/uW9Q4fFPik
— MSC Cruises News (@MSCCruises_PR) October 24, 2022
“This ship represents a new step in the reduction of the environmental impact of ocean liners. This ship is the ship with the lowest CO2 emissions per ton of tonnage of the entire world fleet of ocean liners, it is a world record “, argued Laurent Castaing, general manager of Chantiers de l’Atlantique, during the delivery ceremony. Ocean liners are frequently singled out by environmental defense associations for the pair pollution, toxic discharges into the water, tons of waste they generate.
The giant of the seas, commissioned in June 2018 by the Swiss cruise line MSC, is 333 meters long, 68 meters high and can accommodate 6,700 passengers. “Instead of the ship and the propulsion being powered by fuel oil, we replaced it with gas. So that means, in terms of environmental efficiency, automatically, at equivalence with fuel oil, it’s 25 % less CO2”, assured Patrick Pourbaix, Managing Director France at MSC Cruises. the MSC World Europe also uses a prototype fuel cell, with a capacity of 150 kilowatts, a world first for a ship running on LNG according to MSC Cruises.
The switch to liquefied natural gas is, however, debated. “LNG makes it possible to reduce sulfur oxide emissions almost entirely”, recognized Fanny Pointet, responsible for maritime transport in France for the NGO Transport and Environment. But “the promotion of gas in maritime transport is not a good idea, because in terms of the climate it is bad, in terms of energy security it is bad”she nuanced, insisting that “Europe is trying to emancipate itself from its dependence on Russia for gas”.
“If we chose the option of natural gas (…) it is because today, it is the fuel which is the most accessible. We could perhaps accelerate the transition to hydrogen. The problem is that we don’t find enough hydrogen today on Earth to power our ships.”defended himself on his side Patrick Pourbaix, who declared that the order book of his company “includes only ships that will be able to use either LNG or methanol”.