Icon of the Seas has embarked on its maiden voyage. But the environmental costs remain controversial
The biggest cruise ship on the planet, the Icon of the Seas, set sail on January 27 from Miami. Ahead of the maiden voyage, Royal Caribbean Group CEO Jason Liberty said it’s a brainchild born from “50 years of dreaming, innovating and living our mission.”
From ads during NFL playoff games to articles across media outlets, the prominent cruise ship has received a lot of attention over the last few days. But not all of that attention involved splashy advertising. Several reports also focused on the environmental costs.
Is Icon of the Seas a climate liability?
The New York Times said: “Can the world’s largest cruise ship really be climate-friendly,” and Bloomberg’s environmental desk reported: “The world’s largest cruise ship is a climate liability.” The ship is indeed huge as it cost nearly $2 billion to build and weighs over 225,800 tonnes.
Royal Caribbean executives expect the Icon of the Seas to carry about 10,000 combined guests and crew each week by the time this summer season hits. The vessel is home to 40 restaurants, bars and lounges, a six-slide water park and enough space for 28 different cabin categories.
But a ship of this size also requires a lot of energy to run, undoubtedly. Royal Caribbean contends the Icon is a step in a climate-friendly direction. The cruise ship is the first in Royal’s fleet to use LNG, said Liberty during a press conference.
The Cheif Executive noted that “it’s a journey”, emphasising the group’s efforts to introduce technology to advance its goal of getting to a net-zero ship by 2035. Moreover, the industry as a whole is also working to reduce its environmental footprint.
There’s more to the controversy
The Icon uses LNG – heralded as a cleaner fuel for emitting about 25% less carbon dioxide than traditional marine fuels. But critics have said that LNG is mostly methane, which over time traps more heat than carbon dioxide. There’s more to the controversy.
The International Council on Clean Transportation found a guest on the most efficient ship covering 1,250 nautical miles over five days would push about 1,100 pounds of CO2, compared to 518 pounds for round-trip flights and stay at a four-star hotel for the same period.
