- MSC formalized Monday the order of several ships for a total potential amount of 6 billion euros.
- They will run on liquefied natural gas. At least two will be powered by a sail.
- The cruise market is strongly criticized for the polluting discharges from its ships.
The record contract (up to six billion euros potential) announced Monday with the Italian shipowner MSC will definitively engage the Chantiers de l'Atlantique in a new era: that of ocean liners more respectful of the environment. A direct and inevitable response to the growing criticism leveled against cruise ships, polluting and energy-saving behemoths.
Concretely, the Saint-Nazaire shipyards are entrusted with the order of two large ships of 6,700 passengers (delivery 2025-2027) powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), similar to the MSC Europa already under construction and which will be in 2022 the first in France to use this more virtuous fuel.
LNG has the advantage of hardly emitting sulfur dioxide, of reducing CO2 emissions by up to 25% and of fine particles by more than 95%. "This is a new impetus for the environmental impact of the cruise to improve and go beyond current regulations," said Erminio Eschena, director of institutional affairs for the MSC group.
"Totally revolutionary"
However, the past partnership between the Chantiers and MSC goes further. Four other vessels, also operating on LNG and improved by "emerging environmental technologies", are ordered for delivery in 2028-2030. And, above all, at least two other liners equipped with a sail are also to be built. Their propulsion could be reinforced by a fuel cell, another process that emits little greenhouse gas.
“The industry is already looking towards the 2050s, insists Erminio Eschena. We are going to initiate something completely revolutionary in passenger transport, and make our technological delusions of today become realities tomorrow, just as LNG was crazy ten years ago. "The new frontier in maritime transport is to adapt to the demands of the world," also considers Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, delighted by the nature of the orders.
The sail for ocean liners already tested
Cruise ships powered by sail? It is not a utopia. As part of its project called Silenseas, the Chantiers de l'Atlantique have already been testing a giant sail since the beginning of December on a 15m high model, docked in Pornichet, under the supervision of a former skipper of offshore racing. The Silenseas rig has a mast capable of rotating 360 ° to adapt to the direction of the wind. A ship of 300 passengers could thus be equipped with three sails.
The Chantiers had already tested for twelve months last year a prototype of a 300 m2 composite sail on the Le Ponant sail liner, belonging to the company of the same name. For its part, the Loire industrialist Neopolia is also working on the construction of two sail-propelled freighters, the construction of which will take place in part in Saint-Nazaire.
The international maritime organization (IMO) has set a target for manufacturers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% before 2050.
Economy
Saint-Nazaire: Shortage of labor, the Chantiers de l'Atlantique open their own school
Economy
Shipyards of Saint-Nazaire: Brussels opens an investigation into the takeover by Fincantieri
- Development
- Saint Nazaire
- Planet
- Nantes
- boat