June 5, 2023. MSC Group Cruise Division undertook the industry’s first net-zero greenhouse gas emissions voyage when its latest MSC Cruises flagship, MSC Eurybia, powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), left her shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France, on her way to her christening ceremony in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The new ship, the 22nd to join the MSC Cruises fleet, sailed for four days from Saint-Nazaire to Copenhagen and achieved net-zero greenhouse gas emissions to demonstrate that net-zero cruises are possible today. The MSC Euribia set sail from the French port on June 3 and arrived in the Danish city on June 7.
Pierfrancesco Vago, Executive Chairman of the MSC Group Cruise Division, stated: “This first net-zero voyage of our latest flagship, MSC Euribia, heralds another significant step in our decarbonization journey and demonstrates the extent of our commitment.”
MSC Cruises purchased 400 tonnes of Bio-LNG to show its commitment to the deployment of drop-in renewable fuels and energy transition measures towards the pioneering journey of net zero gas emissions. It is the first ocean-going cruise operator in the industry to purchase Bio-LNG as a fuel source with significant emission reduction life cycle.
According to Vago, “Given the absolute importance of alternative fuels to our industry, as well as other sectors of civil society, to achieve decarbonization, we all need to work together to increase their availability at scale. Our purchase of Bio-LNG will send a clear and meaningful signal to the market that there is demand from the cruise line and the broader maritime industry for cleaner fuels, but we need governments, producers and end-users to collaborate and increase the availability of these much-needed and new sources of energy “.
Net Zero Navigation will use Bio-LNG through a mass balance system, the most efficient method from an environmental point of view to obtain the benefits of renewable biogas. The entire supply chain will be fully compliant with the European Union’s Renewable Energy Directive, commonly known as RED II, and each individual batch of the total Bio-LNG produced has been certified by the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification.
