Coin ceremony held for MSC Cruises’ first LNG-powered ship

Coin ceremony held for MSC Cruises’ first LNG-powered ship

The traditional coin ceremony has taken place for MSC Cruises’ first liquified natural gas-powered ship, MSC World Europa.

The ceremony, which is a historical sign of blessing at the start of a ship-building process, took place at the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire on Monday.

The 200,000-plus gross ton MSC World Europa is scheduled to enter service in 2022 and will be “one of most technologically- and environmentally-advanced LNG-powered cruise vessels in its class”, the line said.

Pierfrancesco Vago, executive chairman of MSC Cruises, said: “MSC World Europa is further proof of our commitment to environmental stewardship as she is set to reduce carbon emissions even further than many other existing cruise ships powered by LNG, which is currently the most environmentally-friendly fuel for commercial maritime operations.

“With this vessel, we also reconfirm our belief in investing in advanced environmental technology to meet our long-term goal of zero emissions from operations.”

Laurent Castaing, general manager of Chantiers de l’Atlantique, added: “We are proud to start the building of a ship which will set the standards for the cruise of the future. This is a major milestone in the history of our 20-year cooperation with MSC Cruises, which has already resulted in some of the most innovative cruise ships ever built.”

MSC World Europa will feature a new 50-kilowatt demonstrator system that incorporates solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology and uses LNG to produce electricity and heat onboard, the first time an LNG-powered fuel cell has been used on a cruise ship.

The line says the system will reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by about 30% compared with a conventional LNG engine, with no emissions of nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides or fine particles.

MSC World Europa will also feature a new generation wastewater treatment system and other “cutting-edge environmental technology”.

MSC Cruises’ new flagship MSC Virtuosa is currently under construction in Saint-Nazaire and is due for delivery in 2020. The company also has firm orders with Chantiers de l’Atlantique for two additional LNG-powered ships, once each for the MSC World and Meraviglia classes of ships.

New MSC Ships Get Wartsila Power

New MSC Ships Get Wartsila Power

MSC World Class

Wartsila will supply Chantiers de l‘Atlantique comprehensive package of integrated solutions designed for the first two MSC World-class cruise ships, which will operate on LNG fuel.

The orders with Wartsila were placed by Chantiers de l’Atlantique in Q3 2018 and Q1 2019.

These will be the first two cruise ships to run on LNG with Wartsila 46DF engines and with Wartsila LNGPac systems.

“The focus of our solutions is on reducing energy and fuel consumption in order to promote efficiency. At the same time, our nitrogen oxide reduction and LNG solutions enhance environmental sustainability, which together with the higher efficiency, is very much in line with Wärtsilä’s Smart Marine strategy,” said Stefan Nysjö, Vice President, Marine Power Solutions, Wärtsilä.

“We are very familiar with Wärtsilä’s products and they have always provided us with excellent support in newbuild projects. These two new cruise ships will represent the latest thinking in minimising the environmental impact and reducing fuel consumption, which is in line with our Ecorizon plan, and Wartsila is playing a major role in this,” added Yves Pelpel, Technical Director, Chantiers de l’Atlantique.

Each ship will get five 14-cylinder Wartsila 46DF dual-fuel engines fitted with nitrogen oxide reduction (NOR) units, two Wartsila LNGPac fuel storage and supply systems, seven Wartsila thrusters, and two Wartsila fixed pitch propellers.

The Wartsila 46DF engines are IMO Tier III compliant in gas mode and are compliant in marine diesel oil (MDO) mode in combination with the NOR units.

The Wartsila equipment is scheduled for delivery in mid-2020 for the first ship, and in mid-2022 for the second.