Viking to Build Hydrogen-Powered Cruise Ship; Orders 2 More

Viking to Build Hydrogen-Powered Cruise Ship; Orders 2 More

Viking and Fincantieri today announced details of the Viking Libra, the world’s first hydrogen-powered cruise ship, capable of operating with zero emissions. In addition, the company announced a deal to build two more ocean-going ships with Fincantieri for delivery in 2031.

Already under construction at Fincantieri’s Ancona shipyard, the Viking Libra is scheduled for delivery in late 2026.

The company’s subsequent ocean ship, the Viking Astrea, which is also currently under construction and scheduled for delivery in 2027, will also be hydrogen-powered.

While the ship is considered a sister ship in Viking’s ocean fleet, she will have a propulsion system based partially on liquefied hydrogen and fuel cells. This hybrid propulsion system will make her capable of navigating and operating with zero emissions, which would allow her to access even the most environmentally sensitive areas, the company said.

Enabled by Isotta Fraschini Motori (IFM), Fincantieri’s subsidiary specializing in advanced fuel cell technology, the ship’s state-of-the-art propulsion system will be capable of producing up to six megawatts of power.

“From the outset, we have designed our river and ocean ships thoughtfully to reduce their fuel consumption, and we are very proud the Viking Libra and the Viking Astrea will be even more environmentally friendly,” said Torstein Hagen, Chairman and CEO of Viking. “Viking made the principled decision to invest in hydrogen, which offers a true zero-emission solution. We look forward to welcoming the world’s first hydrogen-powered cruise ship to our fleet in 2026.”

“With the Viking Libra, we are not only delivering the world’s first cruise ship powered by hydrogen stored on board, but we are also reinforcing our commitment to shaping the future of sustainable maritime transportation,” said Pierroberto Folgiero, CEO and Managing Director of Fincantieri. “Furthermore, we are thrilled about Viking’s decision to expand its fleet with the order of two additional ships, which reaffirms the strength of our partnership and the trust placed in our expertise. This new order is a testament to our shared vision for a more sustainable cruise industry, as together we continue to set new standards for innovation and responsible shipbuilding.”

As part of the company’s commitment to continue to grow capacity, Viking and Fincantieri also today announced that contracts have been signed for two additional ocean ships for delivery in 2031 and an option for two additional ocean ships for delivery in 2033.

Based on the committed orderbook, the company expects to take delivery of 26 additional river ships by 2028 and 11 additional ocean ships by 2031. With these orders, Viking will have 110 river ships in 2028 and 23 ocean and expedition ships in 2031.

Fincantieri: ‘Covering All Brands’ with Eye on Future Fuels

Fincantieri: ‘Covering All Brands’ with Eye on Future Fuels

Coming off a big newbuild order from Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, Daniele Fanara, director of new building and after-sales at Fincantieri, is positive about the future.

“We are serving all segments of the market, from small luxury vessels to mega-size vessels to upper premium,” said Fanara, speaking to Cruise Industry News. “This covers all the brands in the cruise industry.”

Fanara said Fincantieri was very proud to be working with a variety of operators and being able to serve each of them in a tailored customized way.

“We have cross-fertilization with our technology, including the capacity to design the vessel,” he added.

NCLH Order

The new Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings order for eight ships includes orders for all three company brands, with new classes of ships for each of them. Norwegian, Oceania and Regent will all get new bigger ships, with orders for the Norwegian brand stretching to 2036.

“We are proud of the trust that Norwegian gave us to develop such an important program,” said Fanara.

Looking at future technologies, Fanara said the ships were being developed.

“Our attention is focused on three main fuels,” he said. “One is LNG, one is methanol, and one is hydrogen. Hydrogen is the most innovative one. We are developing new ideas on how and when we can implement hydrogen onboard the vessels.”

New ships for Oceania and Regent are being developed to be methanol-ready.

“Today there is no real answer on the fuel of the future,” Fanara continued. “It’s a matter of availability. What’s important from our side is that we are always studying the latest technology available. We are also exploring CO2 capture technology.”

Fanara said among the alternative fuels, LNG was notable in the fact it was being used today.

“Ships are sailing on LNG. The other technology is in a different phase of development. We need to monitor them so we are ready to implement them if necessary,” he explained.

Questions are coming in from cruise lines on alternative fuel practicalities, Fanara said, but with the most questions on hydrogen.

“It is the most innovative, it is the most unknown.”

Industry

Fanara called the cruise industry resilient.

“Soon after Covid, the speed at which the industry recovered and came back to strong booking and revenue levels is incredible,” he said.

Fanara expects other orders to follow, citing market demand and the value gap between cruise- and land-based vacations.

Shipbuilding Costs

Costs are up to build ships.

“A greener vessel is for sure more expensive to build,” Fanara noted. “But is the value of this additional cost worth it for the industry?

“The owners can say the ships are more expensive. We had Covid, we had wars and the result of this has been inflation. If you mix inflation and the technology transition, the result is not less expensive ships.”

MSC Cruises To Test Fuel Cells on World Europa

MSC Cruises and Chantiers de l’Atlantique announced today that the first of MSC’s next-generation ships, the World Europa, will have two 75 kW solid oxide fuel cells onboard running on natural gas. The gas will come from the LNG that will fuel the ship’s main engines.

Pierfrancesco Vago, executive chairman of MSC Cruises, said in conjunction with the announcement that LNG will not only reduce the emissions of the new ship, but once green LNG becomes available on the scale, the ship will be able to operate at zero emissions.

For this reason, he said, he is encouraging producers, regulators and other stakeholders to accelerate its development and that of its supply chain.

In addition, he said that MSC is also studying other fuel technologies, such as hydrogen that could potentially be compatible with LNG engines.

Fuel cells offer another pathway and the two 75 kW units installed on the World Europa will serve as a test project in a real operational environment.

Today also served as the coin ceremony for another MSC ship, the Euribia, and to recognize the contributions of Valentina Mancini, corporate brand manager for MSC Cruises in Geneva, and from Chantiers, Anna Claire Juventin, who heads up the yard’s quality control, as godmother.  

Oil Billionaire Says It’s Time to Move Focus to Renewables

By Mikael Holter (Bloomberg) — Norwegian billionaire Kjell Inge Rokke, who built most of his fortune on oil and gas, says the time has come to start investing more heavily in renewable energy.

The 61-year-old suggested that a tipping point had now been reached in the energy industry while underscoring his conviction that the world will continue to need fossil fuels for years to come.

“A good hunter is a patient hunter,” Rokke said during a webcast panel discussion. He also said that investors who started “too early” has “burned through cash.”

Rokke’s investment company Aker ASA took steps earlier this year to spin off clean-energy units, joining a whirlwind of change that’s sweeping the global oil industry. The new companies have since surged in line with other renewable stocks as investors flock around sustainable assets.

In a rare public appearance at Pareto Securities AS’s Energy Conference on Wednesday, Rokke said he had discussed the timing with Aker Chief Executive Oyvind Eriksen for years.

“The key thing for us is to listen, when you are wrong, admit it, and change direction,” Rokke said. “That’s something that has served us well in this extraordinary shift in the energy sector.”

Aker’s 40% stake in oil producer Aker BP ASA, where BP Plc owns 30%, still makes up more than half of the holding company’s value. Rokke dismissed “doomsday sayers” and said Norway shouldn’t stop producing oil and gas. But he also predicted that other businesses will rapidly rise to make up most of his empire.

In as little as five years, Aker’s exposure to digital solutions and IT, primarily through its majority stake in Cognite AS, could make up between half and two-thirds of the company’s value, Rokke predicted. “Quote me on that five years from now,” he said.

“What we’re doing in the green space is also exciting,” he said. “Less than 10% of offshore wind has been installed so far. We are in the infancy.”

Aker is also working on establishing a separate unit dedicated to hydrogen, Eriksen said in a presentation before Rokke spoke.

Wind Turbine Behemoth Plans for Hydrogen Future

By William Mathis and Laura Millan Lombrana (Bloomberg) — Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy SA has one eye on the future where its wind turbines could play a key role in creating hydrogen.

The company, which earlier this year launched the world’s biggest wind turbine, plans to start a pilot project in Denmark to test how its machines could power production of the fuel seen as key to eliminating carbon emissions from transportation and heavy industries. The European Union has big plans for the clean-burning gas and the bloc placed it at the centre of its Green Deal earlier this year.

The pilot project is under construction near Siemens Gamesa’s Danish headquarters in Brande, western Denmark, Chief Executive Officer Andreas Nauen said in an interview on Thursday. It will include a 3-megawatt wind turbine that will power a 400-kilowatt electrolyzer, a machine that separates the hydrogen atoms in water from oxygen atoms, “We will be for the first time combining the two technologies,” said Nauen, who took over as CEO in June after leading the company’s offshore division. “It is not to produce hydrogen in big quantities, but to test the combination of both.”

It could be a compelling model. Danish utility Orsted A/S is already exploring a number of hydrogen projects for its wind farms and Royal Dutch Shell Plc plans to produce the gas from a park it’s going to build off the Dutch coast. Making and selling hydrogen could provide a new source of revenue for wind projects that would offset the risk in the sometimes volatile electricity market.

BNEF projections of the cost of producing green hydrogen, when compared with hydrogen derived from natural gas.
No one before has used wind power alone, without a grid connection, to produce hydrogen, Nauen said. It’s a project that will provide insight that could be crucial to scaling up the technology too much larger turbines and wind farms both on land and at sea.

Earlier this year, Siemens Gamesa announced plans to build a 14-megawatt offshore turbine with a rotor diameter of 222 meters (728 feet), a few meters larger than the previous record.

The company expects to conduct testing at the hydrogen pilot from October to December and then start hydrogen production in January. A Danish hydrogen fuel company called Everfuel will distribute the gas for vehicles including taxis and buses to use in Copenhagen.

European governments aim to spend billions of dollars to help nurture domestic industries to produce hydrogen. The funding could help scale production and bring down costs.

Offshore Experience

Siemens Gamesa is currently at a similar stage with hydrogen as it was a few years ago with offshore wind, Nauen said.

The executive has worked in offshore wind for more than a decade and has seen how the industry went from being a niche market using turbines designed for land use into a multi-billion-dollar industry with tailor-made machines the size of skyscrapers. Hydrogen could follow a similar trajectory if companies figure out an economical way to produce it. If it takes off, hydrogen will change the whole energy landscape, he said.

“I could imagine maybe it goes a little faster now, but it’s way too early,” Nauen said. “All the money that you currently see coming into this business is about making sure the technology works.”

The company has a team working on hydrogen that’s spread across all of Siemens Gamesa’s divisions. In the future, the company could sell wind farm developers hydrogen equipment along with its turbines, Nauen said. But he doesn’t expect any large-scale wind-hydrogen project until around 2025.

© 2020 Bloomberg L.P.