The greenest cruise ship event ever built
The UN climate summit in Paris in December will go down in history as the moment the world finally came together and agreed on a global, legally binding plan to cut emissions and limit human-caused warming to less than 2°C above pre-industrial levels.
In addition to the big news, the Conference of the Parties, like other conferences, provided an opportunity for public and private organizations to discuss the environmental challenges facing different sectors and industries.
Shipping, which carries over 90% of world trade, is no exception. Several conference sessions during the Paris talks were devoted to the role of shipping in the long-term solution to climate change, and in the wake of the summit, debate is starting to heat up over the prospect of a carbon tax on the shipping sector, as proposed by the International Monetary Fund and roundly rejected by the International Chamber of Shipping.
Amid the historic announcements and industry-wide debate, a relatively small but quietly radical project made its mark on COP21. Peace Boat, a Japanese nonprofit dedicated to promoting human rights and environmental sustainability through “peace voyages” on a chartered passenger ship, used the summit to announce that it had finalized the design for a new ship, which the organization touted as “the world’s greenest cruise ship.”
The Ecoship Project: Setting a Greener Standard
The Ecoship, as the vessel has been named, is expected to make its maiden voyage in 2020. Developed by a team of more than 30 engineers and experts in shipbuilding and environmental design, the vessel is intended to implement the Peace Boat concept of providing a mobile “floating village” to provide education, conduct research and host green technology exhibitions around the world, but with technology “that will minimize environmental impact to a level that exceeds current best-in-practice.”
Spanish design firm Oliver Design provided the architectural design for the 55,000-ton vessel. According to the developers, the ship will provide inspiration and a proof-of-concept for environmentally conscious cruising, which could also be applied to the passenger shipping sector.
“Peace Boat’s launch of the Ecoship in 2020 offers a vision for a climate-friendly future.”
“Peace Boat’s launch of Ecoship in 2020 offers a vision for a climate-friendly future and could point the way to a green cruising model that could also impact the wider shipping industry,” said Peace Boat founder and CEO Yoshioka Tatsuya. “The industry must adapt to the needs of the planet.”
While it is true that the cruise sector’s emissions are a drop in the ocean compared to the thousands of cargo ships, container giants and chemical tankers plying the world’s maritime trade routes, the organisation hopes that driving change in the cruise sector’s public discourse will help change environmental expectations across the shipping world.
As Peace Boat said in a December 2015 press release: “Although the cruise industry represents only a small portion of global shipping, it still includes hundreds of large ships visiting pristine oceans and should contribute to the solutions agenda. Furthermore, cruising is the most publicly visible interaction between modern shipping and the public and thus has the greatest potential to raise awareness and drive change across the industry.”
The green features of the Ecoship
What features make the Ecoship design the greenest ship in the world?
“(The Ecoship) is a perfect combination of improved energy efficiency and renewable energy sources,” said Tomas Kaberger, former director of the Swedish Energy Agency and Ecoship advisor, during Sustainability Week in Abu Dhabi in January 2016.
Indeed, the ship’s design combines structural efficiency with renewable innovations. The development team – including experts in biomimicry – took inspiration from the humpback whale for the ship’s aerodynamic upper hull shape to improve fuel efficiency, while the hull’s non-toxic, anti-fouling coating mimics fish skin. Ventilation, meanwhile, is provided naturally, with heating and air conditioning supplemented by recycled waste energy from the ship’s main engines.
Even the aesthetics of Ecoship’s accommodation design are aligned with the environmental message, with an onboard garden that acts as the ‘heart and lungs of the ship’ and cabins designed according to biophilic principles that emphasise man’s natural connection with nature.
Of course, the biggest opportunity and challenge when it comes to environmental performance is propulsion. Under optimal conditions, the ship’s ten retractable wind-generating masts and 6,000 m² solar farm on the upper deck will drastically reduce the use of traditional fuel. Cleaner-burning liquefied natural gas (LNG) will be used as a supplementary fuel, and Peace Boat also hopes to future-proof the propulsion system by making it adaptable to the use of biofuel and even kitchen waste as alternative fuel sources.
What do all these features add up to in terms of top-line environmental performance? In addition to reducing carbon emissions by 40% compared to pre-2000 cruise ships using standard propulsion, Ecoship will also eliminate NOx and SOx emissions. A closed water system means no water discharge or discharge to sea.
Cruise ships and the environment
When asked by the Daily Telegraph for comment on Ecoship and whether cruise lines had plans to incorporate some of the proposed features, the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) declined to provide details. However, it did stress the importance of environmental performance in today’s cruise market.
“Being environmentally conscious and proactive is not just a necessity for the industry, it is a deep-seated desire.”
“Being environmentally conscious and proactive is not just an industry imperative, it’s a deep desire that’s fundamental to the way we do business,” a CLIA spokesperson said. “From the most stringent wastewater treatment policies in the global maritime community to ongoing reductions in air emissions, CLIA members work with regulators and various industry stakeholders to deliver on their commitment to the environment.”
While the global cruise fleet still largely uses conventional propulsion methods, newbuild projects are beginning to emerge that take a more radical approach to emissions reduction. In 2015, Carnival, the world’s largest cruise line, announced that as part of an agreement with shipbuilders Meyer Werft and Fincantieri, it would order nine new cruise ships between 2019 and 2022, four of which would be built by Meyer Werft and would be powered entirely by LNG, the cleanest fossil fuel.
The ships – two of which will be launched for AIDA Cruises, while the remaining two will become part of the Costa Cruises brand – will be the industry’s first LNG-powered cruise ships. Like other ship types that have become early adopters of LNG propulsion, these vessels are likely to serve as effective large-scale demonstration projects, reducing the perception of risk for other cruise operators considering following suit.
As shore-based power (and the onboard technology needed to use it) gradually spreads and other ambitious green cruise designs, such as the ultra-efficient icebreaking cruise ship unveiled in September 2015 by architecture firm Knud E. Hansen, gain traction, the cruise industry is taking its first steps on the long road to more sustainable operations. But with emissions regulations tightening and the need to reduce pollution becoming more urgent, an advanced green cruise ship like the Ecoship, if successfully completed, could be just the kind of quantum leap the industry needs.
“Ecoship: Building the World’s Greenest Cruise Ship” was originally created and published by Ship technologya brand of GlobalData.
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