MARITIME: How Meyer Werft Floats out Newest Ship in Royal Caribbean’s Fleet
By Our Correspondent
A Meyer Werft Shipyard in Germany has floated out the “SILVER NOVA,” a new luxury cruise ship that is being hailed as the first hybrid vessel, according to FleetMon.
It stated: “The ship is built for Silversea Cruises, a subsidiary of the Royal Caribbean Group, and is scheduled to enter service in August of this year.
“The “SILVER NOVA” will be the twelfth ship in Silversea’s fleet and will have a capacity for 728 passengers and a crew of 556. At 54,700 gross tons, it will also be the first ship in Royal Caribbean’s fleet to operate primarily on liquefied natural gas (LNG).
“In addition to using LNG as its primary fuel, the “SILVER NOVA” boasts a power system of fuel cells and batteries that will be used when the ship is in port. This system will have an output of 4MW and is expected to eliminate emissions from the ship at the port, even when shore power is unavailable. The power system also includes peak load leveling to increase the efficiency of the power plant.
“According to Silversea, the hull of the “SILVER NOVA” has a hydrodynamic shape that exceeds the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) by 25%.”