Germany’s Meyer Werft has floated out the first LNG-powered Nova class cruise vessel it is building for Silversea Cruises, the ultra-luxury brand of Royal Caribbean Group.
According to a statement by Silversea, the two firms celebrated the float out of the new ship, Silver Nova, in Papenburg, Germany, on April 28, 2023.
Set to become the 12th ship in the ultra-luxury cruise line’s fleet when she launches in summer 2023, Silver Nova will be the “most environmentally conscious ultra-luxury cruise ship ever built,” Silversea said.
Unique to the Meyer Werft shipyard, Silver Nova’s next journey—scheduled for the end of May—will entail a conveyance of 32km down the narrow Ems River to the sea.
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.