140 INTERVIEW In pursuit of clean energy While the maritime industry awaits the release of the International Maritime Organization’s revised greenhouse gas strategy in mid-2023, MSC Cruises is trialling an innovative new technology onboard its latest ship. Michele Francioni tells Jon Ingleton more According to MSC Cruises, its new MSC World Europa currently is the most efficient ship in its fleet, generating 46 per cent less greenhouse gas emissions per passenger per day than an average vessel delivered 10 years ago. And MSC Cruises believes that its own analysis indicates the newbuild to be the best performing large cruise ship, from an emissions point of view, in the world. These impressive results represent just a fraction of what MSC Cruises expects to achieve in the medium term. While it’s only one of a series of innovations the brand is trialling, the pilot solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) onboard MSC World Europa could be a key to unlocking significant environmental sustainability gains in the future. A SOFC is an electrical conversion device that generates electrical energy directly from fuel oxidation. It also generates another form of energy too. “The system operates at a temperature “ The SOFC performance has been excellent, and we haven’t seen any signs of safety or maintenance issues”
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