Royal Caribbean International’s LNG-powered Icon of the Seas has received its first fuel tank, as construction continues to progress on the vessel at Finland’s Meyer Turku yard.
Royal Caribbean International, a unit of Royal Caribbean Group, said in a construction update that the yard recently installed the first out of two LNG fuel tanks.
It appears that the installation took place at Neptun Werft in Rostock, which is also a part of Meyer Werft such as Meyer Turku.
The tank weighs 307 tons and is about 27 meters long, and 8 meters tall, according to the cruise line.
Royal Caribbean claims there are the largest LNG fuel tanks in the cruise industry, but it did not provide further information on the type C bi-lobe tanks.
Finland’s Meyer Turku yard started building this vessel in June this year. It is the first out of three LNG-powered cruise ships for Royal Caribbean International.
The US-based cruise line previously said the Icon of the Seas would debut in fall 2023.
The vessel will have a tonnage of about 200,000 GT and enough room for about 5,600 passengers.
LNG and the ship’s additional “environmentally friendly” applications, such as shore power connection, would boost energy efficiencies and reduce carbon footprint, Royal Caribbean said.
The firm expects to take delivery of the other two Icon Class LNG-powered vessels in 2025 and 2026, respectfully.
Besides these ships, Silversea Cruises, an ultra-luxury brand of Royal Caribbean Group, has also LNG-powered vessels on order.
Part of “Project Evolution”, the cruise line developed these ships in cooperation with Germany’s Meyer Werft.
The new class of ships would operate using a trio of power sources including a fuel cell system, battery technology, and dual-fuel engines using LNG as the main fuel, Royal Caribbean recently said.