MSC makes eco-conscious statement with Euribia
ONBOARD THE MSC EURIBIA — It takes a bold cruise company to plaster “#SaveTheSeas” on the side of its newest ship.
But MSC Cruises is confident that it can lead the industry in efforts to transform cruising into a more sustainable and responsible way of vacationing.
At the delivery ceremony for its 22nd vessel, MSC Euribia, at Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France, the hashtagged hull was impossible to ignore as was executives’ pride at what the company is calling “the most energy-efficient cruise ship design ever.” The second of MSC’s ships powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) was more than two years in the making at the French shipyard, which has built 18 vessels for the line.
“Every ship we create is more advanced than the last,” said MSC Cruises executive chairman Pierfrancesco Vago. “And each newbuild brings us closer to our goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.”
The decarbonization of shipping is a huge challenge for the industry and undoubtedly an ambitious goal for the line. But it’s one that MSC executives say they believe is achievable, given the advances in energy efficiency and emissions reduction it claims to have made with the Euribia.
Because it’s LNG-powered (and can run on carbon-free and synthetic fuels or bio-LNG, which is produced through the processing of organic waste, such as surplus lactose, spoiled food, wastewater-treatment sludge and manure), the 19-deck, 6,327-passenger ship’s pollutant emissions are predicted to be dramatically reduced, with sulphur oxides up to 99% lower and nitrogen oxides 85% lower.
The ship generates its own power, and while in port it can plug in to further reduce carbon emissions. All wastewater is treated and cleaned before it leaves the vessel. Onboard monitoring systems maximize the efficiency of the air-conditioning and heating systems as well as control the speed and configuration of the Euribia’s four engines.
According to the line, together these advances reduce the ship’s emissions by 50% when compared with a similar ship built a decade ago. And according to Vago, they will eventually help prove that the 2050 goal is achievable, perhaps years before the self-set deadline.
During its inaugural season, the MSC Euribia will sail seven-night Norwegian fjord itineraries, departing from Copenhagen and Kiel, Germany. En route to its June 8 naming ceremony in Copenhagen, the vessel completed a four-day “net-zero greenhouse gas emissions voyage.” The vessel used bio-LNG in a bid to prove that net-zero emissions cruising is possible, even today, if biofuel is widely available. (The line purchased 400 tons of bio-LNG for the voyage.)
The last ship in MSC’s Meraviglia Plus class, the Euribia’s delivery was celebrated with the traditional smashing of a bottle of Champagne against its hull, the lever pulled by Maya Aponte, granddaughter of company founder and MSC Group chairman Gianluigi Aponte. At 12 years old, she’s not yet old enough to drink but is perhaps young enough to see net-zero cruising become a reality in her lifetime.
MSC World America construction milestone
The MSC Euribia may have been the star of the show in Saint-Nazaire, France, but it wasn’t the only ship being celebrated. A coin ceremony for the MSC World America also took place, symbolizing the hope for good fortune for the vessel. When it debuts in April 2025, it will be the line’s largest North America-based ship, homeporting at MSC’s new PortMiami terminal.
Godmothers to the line’s second World-class ship, Silvia Turbia and Severine Blandin, are longtime employees of MSC and shipbuilder Chantiers de l’Atlantique, respectively. Their commemorative coins were sealed in a steel cylinder and transported in an electric vehicle to another part of the yard to be installed in the keel block of the ship.
The World America will be MSC’s first LNG-powered ship designed for the U.S. cruise market and will feature environmental technologies, including underwater noise management protocols to reduce the impact on the marine environment.
“World America will feature the best of Europa and Euribia and is expected to be the best environmentally performing cruise ship when she debuts,” CEO Pierfrancesco Vago said.
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