Icon's MAP technology was developed over many years by Vow ASA's Scanship. Biosolids are converted into energy that replaces marine gas oil in steam production, producing storage-stable carbon for offloading, reducing a ship's CO2 emissions.
According to Henrik Badin, CEO, Vow ASA, Royal Caribbean is the first mover on this advanced climate technology and now it is being evaluated for several newbuilds across the industry.
(In 2021, AIDA Cruises mentioned developing pyrolysis but further information was not immediately available.)
'A latest and greatest'
It is 'a latest and greatest in waste management,' as Greg Purdy, SVP marine operations, Royal Caribbean International, called pyrolysis in the new 'Making An Icon' video.
MAP is part of Royal Caribbean's zero waste to landfill philosophy of reusing, recycling or repurposing waste into energy.
Besides pyrolysis, the world's largest cruise ship will have numerous other environmental features, as the 'Making An Icon' video relates.
Icon of the Seas plays an important part in Royal Caribbean's ambition to have a net zero carbon ship by 2035 because a lot of the technologies needed to meet that goal have to be installed on a ship, tested and then a way has to be found to scale them, explained Jason Liberty, president/CEO, Royal Caribbean Group.
'Platform to try new things'
So Icon is 'a platform that allows us to try new things,' said Nick Rose, VP - head of ESG for the group.
'We're planning now for ships that are five, six, seven years away,' noted Meaghan Gies, AVP marine strategy and safety, Royal Caribbean International. When planning began for Icon, the technology didn't exist for a lot of the things the company wanted to do, or certainly not on the scale needed.
Green fuels will be essential to meeting net zero, Liberty said. Meanwhile, LNG is a transitional fuel.
As the company's first LNG-powered ship, Icon's harmful air emissions will be reduced by 30%, 'a big step,' in the words of Michael Bayley, president/CEO, Royal Caribbean International.
Designed to allow new drop-in solutions
'We like to keep our options open, so that when that next big fuel comes in, we're able to drop it in to our existing fleet and use it on all of our new ships ... Icon is built in such a way that it will be able to adapt with the times,' said Elizabeth Hackley, director, environmental programs, Royal Caribbean Group.
Icon will also be testing a hybrid fuel cell to help provide some power.
It creates no pollutants in the exhaust, said Simon Mockler, senior director, newbuild decarbonization. He hopes that over time, the fuel cells can become more energy efficient by finding the right way to employ them in the shipboard environment.
Icon of the Seas will also employ advanced heat recovery systems to use waste heat from the engines and will recover the cold temperatures needed for the LNG to use in cooling systems.
To reduce hull friction and cut fuel consumption, the company will employ 'underwater grooming' on a weekly basis to suck up fouling on the hull 'like a Roomba at home,' according to Anshul Tuteja, AVP fleet optimization, global marine operations.
And, like the majority of new cruise ships coming online, Icon will be able to connect to shore power; it's expected to be one of the first to do so its PortMiami terminal.
Cutting food waste
Besides pyroloysis to treat biomass waste on Icon, Royal Caribbean has been working to reduce food waste in general. In 2019 the company launched its 'Win on Waste' initiative and now has a food operations excellence controller on each ship to help manage that, noted Linken D'Souza, global head - VP food & beverage, Royal Caribbean International.
The company's in-house-developed Q Control app also helped deliver a 24% reduction in food waste in 2022 alone. (See Seatrade Cruise Review's March issue for how it works on Wonder of the Seas.)
Water production
Icon of the Seas will have more 'recreational water' than ever in the form of seven pools, nine whirlpools, six water slides and the largest water park at sea. Bigger evaporators and reverse osmosis systems will enable the ship to produce 93% of its own fresh water needs.
Sustainability report
Royal Caribbean Group recently released its 2022 sustainability report that includes such efforts as setting a short-term target to reduce carbon intensity double-digits by 2025 compared to 2019. It also partnered with Mærsk McKinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping to develop zero carbon technologies and solutions for the maritime industry and completed the first renewable diesel pilot in the US on Navigator of the Seas, among numerous other initiatives.
The full report is here.
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