By
Alex Smith |
Shipbuilder Chantiers De l’Atlantique has delivered MSC Euribia to MSC Cruises at its shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France.
MSC Euribia is the fifth and final Meraviglia-class vessel to be built for MSC, and the second in the cruise line’s fleet to be powered by LNG fuel. The ship is equipped with environmental technologies such as onboard wastewater treatment systems and waste management handling, and will emit up to 19 per cent less greenhouse gas emissions per passenger per day than its sister ships while in service.
“With the delivery of MSC Euribia, we have taken yet another huge step towards our net zero greenhouse gas emissions goal,” said Pierfrancesco Vago, executive chairman of the cruise division of MSC Group. “Alongside her many best-in-class environmental innovations, MSC Euribia features a truly groundbreaking energy efficient design that will deliver huge reduction in GHG emissions throughout her lifetime. The cleanest energy is the energy that we don’t use and MSC Euribia has been constructed with this principle at its heart.”
Though MSC Euribia will initially be powered by LNG, the ship’s design can also accommodate other potential renewable fuels after retrofits, such as green methanol.
“It’s important to us that our ships being built today are ready to accommodate the new sustainable fuels that are on the horizon,” says Vago. “We also want to ensure they can easily be retrofitted with new technology and new efficiencies that will help deliver net zero greenhouse gas emissions. This is a ship truly built with the future in mind.”
MSC Euribia will now complete a net-zero greenhouse gas emissions voyage, sailing from Saint-Nazaire to Copenhagen in Denmark using bio-LNG fuel.
The coin ceremony for the third LNG-powered ship in MSC Cruises fleet, MSC World America, also took place at the shipyard. The new ship is due to be delivered in 2025 and will feature technology that allows methane slip – unburned fuel emitted from engines powered by natural gas – to be largely eliminated from LNG when in operation. The two godmothers for the maritime ceremony were MSC Cruise Divisions’ Silvia Turbia and Chantiers de l’Atlantique’s Séverine Blandin.
“This 19th ship - the second of the World Class series - is the result of a long partnership between MSC Cruises and Chantiers de l’Atlantique,” said Henri Doyer, MSC program director at Chantiers de l’Atlantique.