Newly Christened World’s Largest Cruise Ship Arrives With Energy Efficient Technology
The arrival of Royal Caribbean 250,800-ton ship has captured world’s attention, over its cutting-edge features, while others criticise the gigantic ship’s potential to damage the environment.
With an overall capacity to carry around 8,000 people, the 20-deck and 1,198-foot-long vessel is the size of small city. It has eight ‘neighbourhoods packed with amenities that include a 55-foot waterfall, six water slides and over 40 restaurants, bars and entertainment venues.
According to Royal Caribbean, the ship, Icon of the Seas, is registered in the Bahamas and sets a new standard for sustainability with the use of energy-efficient technology designed to minimise the carbon footprint of the ship. This aligns with the company’s goal of introducing a net-zero ship by 2035.
Nick Rose, the Vice President of environmental stewardship at Royal Caribbean Group commented, “We live by one single philosophy, which is to deliver the best vacations responsibly And to do that we build with the core principles of sustaining our planet and communities.”
Notably the cruise industry has faced criticism for its detrimental effects on the environment for many years. Notwithstanding technological advancements, cruise ships continue to be a significant source of air, water, and land pollution that harms sensitive ecosystems and public health, according to a 2021 study published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin.
The cruise industry has marketed liquefied natural gas, or L.N.G., as a cleaner fossil fuel substitute for heavy fuel oil, which is typically used, and Icon of the Seas is Royal Caribbean”s first ship to run on it.
The International Maritime Organization, the UN agency in charge of overseeing international shipping, revealed in 2020 greenhouse gas research that the usage of LNG as a marine fuel increased by 30% between 2012 and 2018, which led to a 150 percent rise in ship methane emissions.
