“Our core focus at the moment is on decarbonization,” said Linden Coppell, director of sustainability at MSC Cruises.
Solutions encompass energy efficiency both for the company’s fleet of current ships and orderbook extending through 2027, with five LNG newbuilds.
“The solutions for the existing fleet and existing engines include bio fuels, using existing infrastructure,” she told Cruise Industry News.
That relies on there being a supply of sustainable biofuels that meet the high criteria that is expected of them.
“The ships that are currently being built, the LNG ships, can potentially transition to a bio or synthetic LNG.”
Then there are the future vessels, encouraging the development of new fuels and infrastructure, Coppell said.
“And that is whether they have advanced internal combustion engines or devices such as a solid oxide fuel cell,” she added.
When the LNG-powered World Europa debuts in 2022, she will have a test installation of a fuel cell aboard.
Cutting Carbon Intensity
Heading to the 2030 target to cut carbon intensity by 40 percent, MSC has already gotten its emissions per ALBD kilometer down 28 percent.
“In order to meet the intensity targets, it’s about driving this efficiency while bringing new efficient ships into the fleet,” said Coppell.
“We’re building bigger ships, so the emissions per ALBD (available lower berth day) kilometer go down (per guest),” she continued, “and we are improving the way we operate.”
The existing fleet is getting the latest technology, including the MSC Musica, which just had an exhaust gas cleaning system fitted.
“For shore power, we have a very clear position,” Coppell said. “All of our newbuilds will have it. So we are getting close to 50 percent (of ships) having it based on capacity. We’ve set a clear position: any ship using a terminal with shore power available will be capable of using it.”
MSC’s fleet is getting additional monitoring systems and sensors to monitor energy usage, plus the software to collect data and the latest artificial intelligence to make recommendations.
One big focus area for Coppell has been air conditioning.
“We have been finding lots of opportunities. There was a lot of education to be done in that area, with putting sensors and automated systems in.
“Once we addressed the big issues there, we looked at other activities,” she said. “There are so many different things going on. We talk about the hotel but then there’s the area of looking at the particular performance of particular items, like the desalination facility or wastewater treatment plant.”
When MSC relaunched operations in August 2020 it did so with the Grandiosa, which achieved a 4-percent reduction in fuel use per day, which Coppell credited to more training.
“We were doing a lot of awareness training with the crew. Whatever role any crew…
Read More: MSC Cruises Is Looking for Green Opportunities – Cruise Industry News