Snam & partners assess building hydrogen-powered cruise ship
Italian energy infrastructure firm Snam announced on July 26 it had signed a memorandum with Geneva-based shipowner Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) and Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri to assess the development of what would be the world's first oceangoing hydrogen-powered cruise ship.
The three companies will undertake studies over the next 12 months, considering the ship space needed to accommodate hydrogen propulsion systems, technical parameters and the potential greenhouse gas emissions savings. They will also conduct a technical and economic analysis of hydrogen supply and infrastructure.
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"We want to be at the forefront of the energy revolution in our sector and hydrogen can greatly help in this direction," the chairman of MSC's cruise division, Pierfrancesco Vago, commented.
The European Commission recently unveiled its Fit for 55 legislative proposal that would apply the bloc's emissions trading system to shipping, putting pressure on shipowners to switch to cleaner fuels. While LNG offers a cleaner solution to oil-based fuels in the nearer term, hydrogen has been pitched as a zero-carbon option that could be adopted in the future.
MSC entered a partnership with Shell earlier this month to decarbonise its shipping operations, with the pair agreeing to look at hydrogen among several other options.