Meyer Werft Shipyard in Germany floated out the “SILVER NOVA,” a new luxury cruise ship that is being hailed as the first hybrid vessel, free of local emissions at port. The ship is built for Silversea Cruises, a subsidiary of the Royal Caribbean Group, and is scheduled to enter service in August of this year.
The “SILVER NOVA” will be the twelfth ship in Silversea’s fleet and will have a capacity for 728 passengers and a crew of 556. At 54,700 gross tons, it will also be the first ship in Royal Caribbean’s fleet to operate primarily on liquefied natural gas (LNG).
In addition to using LNG as its primary fuel, the “SILVER NOVA” boasts a power system of fuel cells and batteries that will be used when the ship is in port. This system will have an output of 4MW and is expected to eliminate emissions from the ship at the port, even when shore power is unavailable. The power system also includes peak load leveling to increase the efficiency of the power plant.
According to Silversea, the hull of the “SILVER NOVA” has a hydrodynamic shape that exceeds the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) by 25%.
After launch, the “SILVER NOVA” will spend its first season in the Mediterranean before repositioning to the Caribbean and South America for the winter of 2023-2024.
Royal Caribbean is also building the “Utopia of the Seas,” the largest cruise ship to date, which will operate on LNG and is expected to enter service in early 2024.
The opinions expressed herein are the author’s and not necessarily those of News2Sea.
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