New Cruise Ship Design Comes With LNG Bunkering and Up to 100% Wind Propulsion

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Tuesday April 30, 2024

Luxury travel firm Orient Express has ordered two cruise ships capable of running on LNG or using wind power for up to 100% of their propulsion needs.

Shipbuilder Chantiers de L'Atlantique has chosen engineering firm Brunvoll to supply the main propulsion system for the vessels, Brunvoll said in a statement on its website last week.

The ships were ordered in January. The design comes with three rigid sails with tilting masts, which will be able to provide up to 100% of the vessels' propulsion needs in the right weather conditions.

The ships will also have engines capable of running on LNG, and Orient Express plans to use hydrogen as fuel once the technology is approved for ocean passenger ships.

"With a signed letter of intent to order two ships, Chantiers de l'Atlantique is proud to herald a new era in the shipbuilding industry with Silenseas," Laurent Castaing, managing director of Chantiers de l'Atlantique, said in a statement on the Orient Express site.

"This concept, born in our design offices in 2018, is the quintessence of our savoir-faire in the fields of naval architecture, the construction of sophisticated hulls, as well as the design of luxurious spaces."