European cruise industry meets in Hamburg to discuss zero-emission and sustainability

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 12 September 2019 12 September 2019

Alan Lam reporting from Hamburg

While the emphasis on a greener and more sustainable cruise industry remains unchanged, the political environment and social attitudes, especially in Europe, towards cruising have shifted. They have become much more hostile to the very idea of cruising. Part of the reason for this is due to the fact that the industry has been misrepresented by the sensational media and misunderstood by the public in general.

The sector now faces an increased urgency to made greater and faster strides in the direction of sustainability it was already travelling. The ultimate goal is the utterly uncompromising zero-emission cruising, a goal it now must attain much sooner than previously anticipated

This posts fresh and additional challenges to the industry. It also changes the existing perimeters. While the NOx and SOx emission compliances, which are local issues, can be addressed by the likes of the LNG technology, the issue of GHG emission, which is a global problem, demands an entirely different solution.

The industry has just entered the age of LNG, but this form of fossil fuel will soon become no longer compliant with the incoming environmental regulations. One of the most unpalatable outcomes of this development is that it will make ports and destinations hesitate on investing in LNG infrastructure, while LNG-powered ships are just beginning to roll off the production line. Cruise lines are now in danger of being left with a fleet of LNG-powered ships that have no bunkering facilities to support them.

The industry must therefore endeavour to hold back the speed of regulatory advancement, as it needs to operate at least one generation of LNG-powered ships to recuperate its massive investment, before letting them become defunct.

At the same time, the focus must also go beyond LNG, onto battery, hydrogen and other feasible options.

But this is an immense challenge, as using batteries to power mega cruise ships is still a tall order, not to mention all the necessary landside infrastructure investment required worldwide. Unlike the ferry industry where only one or two ports need to have the necessary supporting facilities to make the operations viable, cruise ships need a cohesive global service infrastructure development if the battery or hydrogen technology solution is to be adopted.

The industry must also be careful that in finding a solution for a problem it does not end up creating another as the result. Energy sources are still needed to charge the batteries or generate hydrogen.

CruiseBusiness.com Magazine correspondent is at the Seatrade Cruise & River Cruise Convention, attending discussion sessions and talking to industry insiders about sustainability and zero-emission cruising. A full analytical article on this topic will appear in our winter issue.

SunStone's China-built Greg Mortimer delivered 24 days ahead of schedule

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 11 September 2019 11 September 2019

SunStone Ships, the largest tonnage provider in the expedition market, announced the successful delivery of their first next-generation, Infinity-class vessel – delivery was 24 days ahead of schedule.

With a goal of marrying European design and quality with Chinese ship-building efficiency, the Infinity-class delivers cutting-edge design, innovations like X-bow technology, and significant operating efficiencies.

SunStone President and CEO, Niels-Erik Lund, commented, “We are very pleased with the quality and high building standards of China Merchants Heavy Industry, which are fully at the level of European Shipyards. A quality this high will not go unnoticed in the cruise industry. We look forward to continuing our relationships with all our partners in the Infinity-class project, and we are moving fast forward as planned at very satisfactory speed, safety and quality level”.

The vessel will be chartered out to Aurora Expeditions, a world leader in expedition cruising and has been named after Aurora Expeditions’ adventurous co-founder.

The vessel has departed China Merchants Heavy Industry, Haimen, and is on its way to Singapore for a one day stop for further supplies, then a two day stop in Cape Town to get the remaining hotel crew and supplies onboard, and from there to Ushuaia where cruising will begin in late October as planned.

Infinity-class Vessels are 104 meters long, and 18 meters wide, having a draft of 5.1 meters. They feature a passenger capacity between 130-200 and a crew capacity between 85 and 115. The Vessels are Ice Class 1A, Polar Code 6 and are being built with Safe Return to Port, Dynamic Positioning and Zero Speed Stabilizers. The Vessels are featuring the X-Bow by Ulstein Design & Solutions. They are small enough to give an exclusive atmosphere and yet large enough to yield all expected services and facilities such as a swimming pool, bar and restaurants, lounges, boutique, gym and spa.

Current Infinity-class newbuilds under way after the delivery of Greg Mortimer are; the Ocean Victory with delivery October 2020, the Ocean Explorer with delivery January 2021, the Infinity-class vessel no. 7 (TBN) with delivery September 2021, the Ocean Odyssey with delivery March 2022, the Ocean Discoverer with delivery September 2022 and the Ocean Albatros with delivery October 2022. All vessels ordered have long-term charter agreements in place.

In addition to the seven vessels already ordered, SunStone has options to build another three Infinity-class vessels.