World’s Largest Cruise Ship Sets Sail and Worries Environmentalists

Over the weekend, the world’s largest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean’s “Icon of the Seas,” started a seven-day tropical island adventure. Its maiden voyage set off from Miami, Florida, and was marked with significant public interest.

The ship is colossal, with eight defined “neighborhoods,” six waterslides, seven swimming pools, and 20 decks in total. It’s about five times larger than the Titanic with the ability to accommodate a massive 7,600 passengers. The construction of this $2 billion sea giant wasn’t a small task, either. The ship stretches nearly 1,200 feet from the bow to the stern and has a whopping weight of 250,800 metric tons.

The launch of “Icon of the Seas” comes at a time when the desire to travel is on the rise. However, it has also stirred discussions about the environmental impacts of such massive cruise ships.

The ship operates on liquified natural gas (LNG), a cleaner-burning alternative to other common maritime fuels, but it’s not without its environmental concerns. LNG has high methane content, a greenhouse gas that is around 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide in terms of atmospheric warming. Cutting down on methane emissions is critical to tackling our climate crisis.

The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) recently reported alarming levels of methane emissions from LNG-fueled ships, surpassing current regulatory expectations. The usage of LNG as a marine fuel is, however, expanding quickly. The ICCT asserted that LNG, as a marine fuel, could result in over 120% more lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions than marine gas oil.

As for Royal Caribbean International, the company assures that every kilowatt of energy used on the “Icon of the Seas” is examined for energy efficiencies and emission reductions. Yet, the question of whether this is enough to offset the environmental impact of such a massive vessel remains unanswered.