Germany’s Meyer Werft has handed over the first LNG-powered Nova class cruise vessel to Silversea Cruises, the ultra-luxury brand of Royal Caribbean Group.
The shipbuilder and Silversea announced the delivery of the LNG-powered Silver Nova via social media.
Silversea said that the delivery took place on Wednesday in the Dutch port of Eemshaven.
This is Silversea’s 12th vessel.
Last month, the LNG-powered ship completed the first phases of its sea trials and returned to Eemshaven.
Meyer Werft transferred the ship in the beginning of June from Papenburg, Germany to Eemshaven after its launch on April 28.
According to Silversea’s website, the inaugural sailing of Silver Nova is expected to take place on August 14, departing from Italy’s Venice.
The ship’s public debut will spend one week cruising the Mediterranean, calling on six ports across Slovenia, Croatia, and Montenegro before returning to Fusina, the port for Venice located just across the Venetian Lagoon.
Meyer Wert started building Silver Nova in November 2021 and its sister vessel Silver Ray in November last year.
Silversea expects the second LNG-powered ship to enter service in summer 2024.
The new class of ships will operate using a trio of power sources including a fuel cell system, battery technology, and dual-fuel engines using LNG as the main fuel.
Meyer Werft previously said that the fuel cell system with an output of 4 megawatts will complement the LNG engines as the first large-scale installation of its kind in the cruise industry, supplying the ship with enough electricity to power the entire hotel operation.
Both of the ships will have a travel capacity of 728 guests and a gross tonnage of 54,700 tons.