The passenger ship industry has recently made strides in accelerating its energy transition
Methanol, hydrogen and batteries are all on the table for cruise and ferry operators and progress is being made.
The news in February that Costa Group and Proman have joined forces to drive the use of methanol will undoubtedly encourage its uptake in the cruise industry.
The joint press release suggests this partnership is not just one that benefits Costa Cruises, but indeed is one that will be of importance to the whole cruise industry, with the cruise operator saying the MOU reaffirms methanol’s potential to play a key role in the ongoing reduction of greenhouse gas emissions of the cruise sector and other shipping segments.
The partnership aims to accelerate the decarbonisation of the existing fleet by enhancing the supply of sustainable methanol, paving the way for retrofitting existing vessels to operate on clean fuel, as well as investing in further methanol-fuelled newbuilds.
As Costa Cruises points out, it has several advantages the cruise industry can benefit from: it has easy-to-handle properties, is one most widely traded chemical commodities, and all forms of methanol can be blended regardless of different production paths.
Passenger ship operators also have the option to make their newbuilds methanol-ready, and there has been an uptake in such measures recently, including SunStone Ships’ new Boundless class. These will include an electric grid which will allow the shipowner to add fuel cells, solar panels or batteries to the cruise ships. When asked about possible future energy sources, SunStone Ships chief executive Niels Erik Lund tells PST fuel cells and methanol could be options.
Progress has also been made for deploying hydrogen in the passenger ship sector. A new Norwegian consortium is looking to develop the hydrogen value chain for a Northern Xplorer cruise vessel.
The Consortium partners comprise zero-emissions cruise venture Northern Xplorer, hydrogen provider and owner of infrastructure Norwegian Hydrogen, high-capacity hydrogen transfer system supplier HYON, ship designers Multi Maritime and hydrogen storage system provider Hexagon Purus Maritime.
The partners signed an MoU in January with the goal of developing a complete hydrogen value chain for Northern Xplorer’s first zero-emissions cruise ship featuring fuel cells and electric propulsion and making pollution-free hydrogen available to the wider maritime market.
And as our ferry profile in this issue highlights, Sea Change is set to become the first commercial hydrogen fuel-cell passenger ferry in the world. The 21-m, 75-passenger, zero-emissions, hydrogen fuel-cell powered, electric-drive ferry is owned by SWITCH Maritime.
This ferry will undoubtedly help other operators on the hydrogen path as the ferry was specifically developed and constructed to demonstrate a pathway to commercialisation for zero-emissions hydrogen fuel-cell marine technologies.
And our second ferry profile showcases how Incat Tasmania is to build the world’s largest all-electric aluminium ship after negotiating changes to a ship ordered by South American customer Buquebus. The shipyard has made further strides into the electric ferry market with its Incat Electric design, an all-electric ferry.
All these latest developments will accelerate the pace in which passenger shipping reaches net zero.
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