The world’s largest cruise ship will set sail in 2024 as the industry rebounds

A Finnish shipyard is putting the finishing touches to the Icon of the Seas (Icon of the Seas), the cruise largest in the world, before its first trip scheduled for January 2024, in full rebound in the sector after the pandemic from covid-19.

More like a small town than a ship, the Royal Caribbean-commissioned ship boasts multiple water parks and more than 20 decks. Five times bigger than the Titanic, she can accommodate almost 10,000 people.

“This ship is currently, to our knowledge, the largest cruise ship in the world,” declared Tim Meyer, general manager of the Meyer Turku shipyard, which is in charge of building it on the southwest coast of Finland.

While some qualify the colossal structure as a “monstrosity”citing its huge climate footprint, others admire its sophisticated engineering and flock to buy tickets.

A particularity of the new ship, whose construction began in 2021, is its gigantic glass dome that covers the bow.

The cruise industry is recovering after the severe blow of the covid-19 pandemic.

According to the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), passenger volume will exceed pre-pandemic levels by 2023, to 31.5 million passengers.

“Once the restrictions are lifted and the situation calms down, we will see the market recover strongly”Meyer predicted.

“More profitable”

Meyer Turku also has two other vessels of similar size on its order book.

“Cruise ships have gotten bigger in the last decade”explains Alexis Papathanassis, Professor of Cruise Management at the University of Applied Sciences in Bremerhaven, Germany.

According to him “there are obvious economic benefits” for large ships, since they reduce the cost of each passenger by making economies of scale.

With its seven pools, a park, water slides, shopping malls, an ice skating rink and “more places than any other boat”he “Icon of the Seas” it also offers more places to spend money on board.

This “in turn allows cruise companies to be more profitable”he added.

This is good news for cruise ships, which had to go into debt to survive the almost global lockdown due to the coronavirus.

The increase in ship size will continue, Papathanassis predicts, but at a slower pace given the economic context.

“The bigger the ships, the higher the costs of investment and the necessary technological knowledge. And technological knowledge is not cheap”Explain.

“Bigger than ever”

From a climate point of view, some argue that the energy efficiency of one large ship is more important than that of several small ships. But this opinion is not shared by all.

“If we followed this logic, we would certainly build bigger cruise ships, but in fewer numbers”argues Constance Dijkstra, a maritime transport specialist at the NGO Transport & Environment (T&E).

“But that’s not what happens. We see more and more ships, and they are bigger than ever.” says.

And while modern ships are taking steps to mitigate emissions thanks to technology – the “Icon of the seas” runs on liquefied natural gas (LNG) -, environmentalists are not convinced.

LNG emits less than traditional marine fuels, but “has dramatic consequences on the climate due to methane leaks” it provokes, warns Dijkstra.

Composed essentially of methane, LNG is a potent greenhouse gas that can have a far worse impact on the climate than carbon dioxide.

“The problem is that by using LNG as a marine fuel, we encourage the development of the gas industry.”

Source: AFP