Wärtsilä is to supply the engines for Celebrity Cruises’ new ship, the fifth vessel in the company’s ‘Edge’ series.
Close collaboration between Royal Caribbean, Chantiers de l’Atlantique and Wärtsilä will enable the ship to be capable of operating with a methanol fuel option, thus advancing the use of alternative fuels for the cruise industry.
The methanol-ready engines will give the new ship fuel flexibility. The vessel is scheduled for delivery from the yard at St Nazaire in 2025.
Wärtsilä will convert two Wärtsilä 46F engines to allow them to utilise methanol as fuel, which will mark the first such conversion for this particular engine type. The engines will also be capable of operating with two other conventional fuel types.
The conversion project not only promotes lower carbon cruising, but by adding methanol as a fuel option, emissions of sulphur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter are significantly reduced.
“With the launch of our ‘Edge’ series of ships in 2018, we set ambitious sustainability goals to make these ships the most energy efficient large vessels at sea,” said Celebrity Cruises’ President and CEO, Lisa Lutoff-Perlo.
“Working collaboratively with our expert partners, we have continued to develop new technologies and achieve breakthroughs with each subsequent ship.”
“Wärtsilä has invested heavily into researching viable future carbon-neutral fuels for the marine industry, and methanol has emerged as one of the most promising candidates. This will be the second methanol-fuelled engine conversion that we have undertaken, and the first with the Wärtsilä 46F engine.
“We share a commitment to de-carbonise shipping, and the transparent partnership between our three companies for this newbuild project represents an important milestone along the path to achieving this goal,” commented Håkan Agnevall, President and CEO of Wärtsilä.
Celebrity Cruises, along with its parent company Royal Caribbean Group, has been committed to the innovation and advancement of solutions that support greater sustainability for 30 years, the company claimed.
The incorporation of methanol-ready engines represents its next step towards achieving Destinations Net Zero, its vision for net zero emissions by 2050.
Wärtsilä will deliver two 8-cylinder Wärtsilä 46F engines capable of operating with methanol as fuel, two 12-cylinder Wärtsilä 46F engines, and one Wärtsilä 32 engine. Wärtsilä will convert the 46F engines to run on methanol at the yard, prior to commissioning.
Laurent Castaing, Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard’s General Manager, added; “Development and integration of methanol systems on a cruise ship is a new challenge for Chantiers de l’Atlantique and, for the first time, is part of our de-carbonisation programme.”
