MSC Seeks to Build World's First Oceangoing Hydrogen-Fuelled Cruise Ship

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Monday July 26, 2021

MSC Cruises has signed a deal looking into the possibility of building the world's first oceangoing hydrogen-fuelled cruise ship.

The firm has signed a memorandum of understanding with shipbuilder Fincantieri and energy infrastructure company Snam to carry out a feasibility study for the project, it said in a statement on its website on Monday.

"We want to put ourselves at the forefront of the energy revolution for our sector and hydrogen can greatly contribute to this," Pierfrancesco Vago, executive chairman of MSC Cruises, said in the statement.

"However, today production levels remain low and hydrogen fuel is still far from being available at scale.

"With this project, we're taking the lead to bring this promising technology to our fleet and the industry while sending the strongest possible signal to the market about how seriously we take our environmental commitments.

"As we advance with the development of the maritime technology required, we will also see that energy providers take note and ramp up production to unlock this, and that governments and the public sector step in to provide the necessary support for a project that is critical to the decarbonisation of cruising and shipping."

MSC is aiming to have net zero-carbon operations by 2050.

Ship & Bunker News Team
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