Page 31: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (March 2019)

CRUISE SHIPPING • THE MARKET REPORT

ONE LNG-FUELED CRUISE SHIP IS IN OPERATION WTH 31 ON ORDER FROM OPERATORS IN-

CLUDING CARNIVAL, DISNEY CRUISE LINE, ROYAL CARIBBEAN INTERNATIONAL AND MSC.

STEVE ESAU, GENERAL MANAGER OF THE SEA/LNG CONSORTIUM

Continued from page 29 have been installing advanced air quality systems on our ships. These efforts are mitigating much of the impact from the

ECA requirements. Given the installa- tion schedule, we expect to use a greater percentage of low sulfur fuel in 2020, which may increase our fuel costs.” In late 2018, Carnival was a founding mem- ber of Clean Shipping Association 2020, an industry group promoting the use of scrubbers generally, against a backdrop of concerns about open loop scrubbers in particular.

A new cruise entrant, Virgin Voyage, will deploy “hybrid” scrubbers from

Wärtsilä on its three 2,770 passenge ves- sels, the ? rst dubbed Scarlet Lady and under construction at Fincantieri Sestri (near Genoa where it was ? oated out in early Februrary 2019). Delivery is scheduled for 2020.

With new operators come new tem- plates for business relationships with vendors and equipment providers. The scrubbers, and other onboard systems (including catalytic converters) are cov- ered under a long-term maintenance agreement between Wärtsilä and Virgin

Voyages, where the vendor is incentiv- ized in providing economical and sus- tainable operations.

Recently, LNG has predominated where operators have gone to alternative fuels. Steve Esau, General Manager of the Sea/LNG consortium, told Maritime

Reporter, “…One LNG-fueled cruise ship is in operation (AIDAnova- oper- ated by AIDA, a Carnival brand) with 31 on order from operators including Car- nival, Disney Cruise Line, Royal Carib- bean International and MSC Cruises.”

Peter Keller, Sea/LNG’s Chairman, noted in a blog posting that AIDANova had entered service in December 2018 .

The 6,600-passenger vessel was deliv- ered from Meyer Werft- Papenburg, with a pair of sisters to follow in 2021 and 2023. Its four 15,440-kW MaK M46DF engines are from Caterpillar.

At least one cruise giant has been thinking beyond LNG; Royal Caribbean has suggested that its new LNG-pow- ered Icon-class vessels (around 200,000 gross tons), with the ? rst to be delivered in 2022, will see its LNG fuel supple- mented by hydrogen fuel cells. www.marinelink.com 31

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