The Discovery Princess, the sixth Royal-class ship built Princess Cruises, floated out today at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Monfalcone.
Interior fittings will now begin, leading the vessel to delivery, scheduled next year for Princess, which is owned by Carnival Corporation.
The 145,000-ton ship is a sister vessel to the Royal Princess, Regal Princess, Majestic Princess, Sky Princess and Enchanted Princess, which were all built and delivered in the same shipyard starting from 2013.
The partnership between the Monfalcone yard and Princess Cruises will continue with two next-generation cruise ships. These will be the largest built so far in Italy with a gross-tonnage of 175,000 tons, will accommodate approximately 4,300 guests and will be the first of the ship owner’s fleet to be dual-fuel powered primarily by Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). Deliveries are scheduled for 2023 and 2025.
P&O Cruises has revealed the name of its second LNG-powered Excel class ship. The ship, which will join the P&O Cruises UK six-ship fleet in December 2022, will be named Arvia.
According to a press release, the name means “from the seashore”
“The Arvia will join the Iona as an innovative and future-focused ship offering an outstanding, varied and contemporary holiday. The Arvia has been designed to travel to the sun year-round and to maximize views of the ocean and the seashore from everywhere on board, so it seemed a very fitting name and one which will reflect the experience for guests on board,” said P&O Cruises President Paul Ludlow.
“The seashore is known for its relaxing properties and tranquillity and a holiday on the Arvia will, indeed, celebrate this and have relaxation at its heart. The rejuvenating and restorative qualities of a walk on the beach and invigorating sea air will be reflected in the experiences both onboard and onshore as well as the vast space onboard which has enabled us to include a number of new and extraordinary features,” he added.
The name of the 5,200-passenger ship was unveiled through a video reveal made up of outlining the letters in the name in various different locations, all relating to the beach and the seashore.
Holidays on the Arvia will go on sale in March and further details of the ship, its design and experiences onboard will be released over the coming months, P&O Cruises said.
2021 will see two new MSC Cruises vessels enter the market, the MSC Virtuosa and MSC Seashore, and both ships will be equipped with a wide range of the latest-generation environmental technologies and equipment, according to the cruise line.
Both newbuilds will feature hybrid exhaust gas cleaning systems (EGCS) and selective catalytic reduction systems (SCR), achieving a 98% reduction of sulphur oxide (SOx) emissions and reducing nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by 90%.
Their wastewater treatment systems have been designed in line with the International Maritime Organization’s MEPC 227(64) Resolution and achieve purification standards that are higher than most wastewater treatment facilities ashore, MSC announced, in a press release.
As all MSC Cruises’ newbuilds, they will also be equipped with shore power, allowing them to connect to local power grids where infrastructure is available.
Pierfrancesco Vago, MSC Cruises’ Executive Chairman said: “Our long-term goal is to achieve a zero-impact cruise operation and this is the journey we are on today. As we work with our partners to identify new technologies that will bring us closer to this goal with each new ship that we build and bring into service, we continue to equip our ships with the latest and most effective technologies in the market.”
In addition, MSC has also announced that it is partnering with several industry players in a research project that promotes low-carbon shipping by combining progressive energy technologies and innovative ship design. Led by the University of Vaasa, the CHEK Consortium – deCarbonising sHipping by enabling Key Technology symbiosis on real vessels concept designs project – involves, in addition to MSC Cruises, the World Maritime University, Wärtsilä, Cargill, Lloyds Register, Silverstream Technologies, Hasytec, Deltamarin, Climeon and BAR Technologies.
The consortium is in line to receive significant funding from Horizon 2020 – the European Union’s framework programme for research and innovation.
According to MSC, the project will seek to demonstrate the synergistic benefits of innovative technologies including hydrogen propulsion, ultrasound antifouling, hull air-lubrication, waste to energy systems and digitalized optimization software, fully integrated to maximize efficiency across all aspects of ship operation.
Looking ahead, in 2022 MSC World Europa, the company’s first LNG-powered vessel will be delivered.
The first LNG ship for MSC will also get a 50-kilowatt, LNG-powered solid oxide fuel cell technology project that offers a potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a further 25% compared to a conventional LNG engine.
Linden Coppell, MSC Cruises’ Director of Sustainability, noted: “Every new ship that joins our fleet incorporates solutions to minimise our environmental footprint. MSC Virtuosa and MSC Seashore will be no exception. As new technologies are identified, we also work to improve the existing fleet, investigating retrofit opportunities, incorporating new energy reduction measures, working extensively with industry experts and seeking out drop-in alternative fuels to achieve the ambitious carbon intensity reduction goals of our industry.”
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