Shipbuilding, maintenance & repairs
Cruise ship design has already started to adapt to demands for cleaner and more efficient fuels.
pandemic will be rethinking how cruise vessels are designed. Alongside the need for more efficiency and enhanced sustainability, vessel designers will no doubt be thinking more about passenger and crew safety.
“Changes will definitely come in the design parameters after Covid-19, and we have already seen that new class notations and certificates are about to be introduced,” says Olsen. “This will include solutions for a safer on-board environment when it comes to HVAC – ventilation and filters – and also new hospital solutions.”
As the cruise industry slowly comes to life once more and orders for new vessels increase, design parameters will have many of the same priorities as before the pandemic, but health and safety have jumped to the top of the agenda for the moment.
“We constantly work to implement new environmental standards and safety regulations in new vessels to reduce the overall impact.”
Terje Våge, Ulstein Design & Solutions
“When the cruise industry now opens up again, we assume it will start with an increased interest in smaller expeditions vessels compared with the larger cruise vessels, because there are fewer people on board and each person has more space. It will be easier to keep distance,” Olsen believes. “Though it is not directly related to Covid-19, another issue that has arisen in the past year is an exploding interest in green energy. People want green solutions for a sustainable future,” he adds Then there’s the ecological aspect of vessel design. While sustainability was a driving force in this area long before Covid, it has perhaps become even more important during the spread of the virus. One of the
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few silver linings from lockdown has been a reduction in global carbon emissions, which has focused the minds of many people on the burden that travel and commerce place on the environment. Cruise ship design has already started to adapt to demands for cleaner and more efficient fuels. For example, MSC’s next three World Class ships, which will be delivered in 2022, 2025 and 2027, are powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG). Compared with standard marine fuel, LNG will help the ships reduce sulphur emissions and particulate matter by 99%, NOx emissions by 85%, and CO2
emissions by 25%.
For Ulstein, the X-BOW design featured on the Resolution – and on several cruise ship designs under construction for SunStone Ships in China – is a novel feature for the cruise industry. In head seas, the design helps to absorb impact, leading to fewer vibrations and less sea spray, enabling the vessel to maintain higher speed with reduced friction and, as a result, reduced fuel consumption and lower emissions.
“When designing a ship or developing a product, we keep in mind its lifecycle environmental impact,” says principal engineer and lead naval architect at Ulstein Design & Solutions, Terje Våge. “Any product will have an impact when being produced, when being in use, and when taken out of use. We take on the responsibility to deliver long-lasting ships that are more energy-efficient and that can be powered by renewable energy sources or by low-carbon solutions. We constantly work to implement new environmental standards and safety regulations in new vessels to reduce the overall impact.”
When the pandemic finally passes, shipyards and cruise operators will have forged closer ties than ever, thanks to their efforts to overcome disruption and adversity. Though it was a painful year for everyone, the lessons of 2020 will likely enable the industry to come back stronger. ●
World Cruise Industry Review /
www.worldcruiseindustryreview.com
Photo © ULSTEIN GROUP_Uavpiccom
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