THE CRUISE DIVISION OF MSC GROUP PUBLISHES DATA AND LEARNINGS FROM WORLD-FIRST NET ZERO EMISSIONS CRUISE

• During the 4-day sailing, the MSC Euribia surpassed its forecast performance resulting in 43 tonnes less fuel use than planned.
• A “digital twin” technology was used to benchmark the ship’s performance.
• With heating and hot water on board produced by capturing waste heat from MSC Euribia’s engines, the boilers on board were not required.
• All proving that MSC Cruises’ newest flagship does indeed have the most energy-efficient cruise ship design to-date-.

Geneva, Switzerland, 07 September 2023 – The world’s first net zero greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions cruise ship voyage, achieved MSC Euribia, the Cruise Division of MSC Group’s newest LNG-powered vessel, marks a paradigm shift for cruising. It proves that net-zero emissions cruising is possible already today, significantly ahead of the 2050 target for the industry. MSC Euribia achieved this milestone by utilising bio-LNG as fuel by applying mass balance.

Following MSC Euribia’s landmark net-zero GHG emission maiden voyage from Saint Nazaire, France to Copenhagen, Denmark, between 3 and 8 June 2023 – including one day in Amsterdam –, MSC Cruises is now able to share the key data and insights gathered from the journey. During the four-day voyage, MSC Euribia performed 11% better than her digital twin – a virtual ship reproducing the optimum energy flow and utilisation on board - achieving an overall saving of 43 tonnes of fuel. Optimal speed profiles, routing, trim and engine configuration, and strict optimisation of the hotel`s energy consumption, including HVAC, galleys, and lightings, ensured that MSC Euribia never had to use more than two of its four engines available during the voyage. In addition, all the required heat for galleys, heating systems and hot water on board was recovered from MSC Euribia’s engines, meaning there was no need to utilise the boilers for the entire voyage.

Achieving net-zero performance was made possible by using bio-LNG as a fuel. MSC Euribia utilised bio-LNG using a mass-balance system, the most cost-effective and environmentally efficient method of delivering the benefits of renewable LNG, fully recognised by the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED II). Each batch of bio-LNG produced was certified by the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC).

The successful completion of this voyage sends a clear signal that net zero GHG emissions marine operations are possible today if alternative fuels are available. The data harvested and information gathered during the trip will then be used to optimise the existing ships in the fleet, further driving down emissions intensity across the MSC Cruises’ fleet.

Michele Francioni, Senior Vice President of Optimisation for the Cruise Division of MSC Group, commented: “We are extremely proud of this achievement, that proves net-zero cruising is possible today. Our engineers on board and our crew led by Captain Battinelli did a fantastic job optimising the ship's operation. MSC Euribia truly has the most energy-efficient cruise ship design to-date, but we need greater availability of renewable fuels for the wider maritime industry to consistently repeat this feat. With the right level of support from governments and international institutions in incentivizing acceleration of technological advancements and renewable fuels availability, the industry can achieve net-zero emissions cruising by 2050.”

The recent signing of a Letter of Intent (“LOI”) between MSC Cruises and Gasum, a fuel supplier, will provide MSC with access to liquefied synthetic gas, or e-LNG, a renewable fuel produced using hydrogen, created by hydrolysis with renewable energy and captured carbon.

Linden Coppell, Vice President of Sustainability and ESG for MSC Cruises said,.“The partnership with Gasum will enable us to access new and cleaner fuels needed to make a significant step toward net zero cruising. We need more suppliers like Gasum to step up and support our industry. We are ready and waiting to buy more of these new fuels. In the meantime, we will continue to learn from the data from MSC Euribia’s net zero GHG voyage and use these findings as a benchmark for delivering our next LNG vessel.”

MSC Euribia’s pioneering net zero GHG emissions voyage was recently recognised within the cruise industry when it was awarded the accolade of ‘Sustainability Initiative of the Year 2023’*.

ENDS

*Seatrade Cruise Awards 2023, announced on 6 September in Hamburg, Germany.  

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MSC Euribia features and environmental technologies:

Gross Tonnage: 184 011

Length: 331 m

Width: 43 m

Height: 73,6 m

Passengers capacity: 6 334

Engines and fuels:

Four Wärtsilä Dual Fuel engines: 2 x 16V46DF and 2 x 12V46DF

Engines capable of running on Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) and on low-sulphur marine gas oil (MGO)

World-first net-zero emission cruise:

MSC Euribia completed a net-zero GHG emissions voyage from St. Nazaire to Copenhagen utilising bio-LNG using a mass-balance system, the most cost effective and environmentally efficient method of delivering the benefits of renewable biogas.  MSC Euribia can be powered using Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), which virtually eliminates sulphur oxides and particulates and reduces nitrogen oxides by 85%. It also reduces emissions of greenhouse gases by up to 20% (on a CO2-equivalent basis).             

LNG is a transition fuel: the onboard engine technology and fuel systems can already use bio and synthetic LNG today. In the future, the ship design can accommodate retrofits enabling our LNG-powered vessels to operate using green methanol. MSC Cruises is committed to deploying drop-in renewable fuels and accelerating the energy transition to net-zero.             

Energy Efficiency

MSC Euribia is the most energy-efficient cruise ship design ever. MSC Euribia will achieve an IMO Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) 55% better than currently required and she is expected to be the best-performing cruise ship in the world at the time of her launch. MSC Euribia will emit up to 44% less greenhouse gas emissions per passenger per day than ships built only 10 years ago.

Advanced water and waste treatment facilities

Wastewater is treated to a very high quality that is of a better standard than many shoreside municipal wastewater treatment systems worldwide. Our technology meets the strictest international IMO standards – including the so-called Baltic standard. Advanced waste management systems to reduce, reuse, and recycle the waste generated on board.

The Cruise Division of MSC Group is committed to being a net zero GHG emissions brand by 2050

The emissions intensity of our ship operations has decreased by 33.5% since 2008, and we are confident in achieving a 40% reduction by 2030.  Achieving net zero emissions will require more than finding further operational efficiencies: we are embracing new technologies and switching to non-carbon and renewable fuels. We are working with fuel providers and others on deploying drop-in sustainable fuels like advanced biofuels and biogas today. Looking into the future green hydrogen and green methanol will likely contribute to our decarbonisation, as will synthetic e-fuels. Our focus is the development of scalable solutions that can be used universally.