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Image source, Tribune News Service via Getty Images
The 20-deck Icon of the Seas features seven pools, six slides and more than 40 restaurants, bars and lounges.
The world’s largest cruise ship will set sail from Miami, Florida, on its maiden voyage, amid concerns about the ship’s methane emissions.
The 365 m long (1,197 ft) Icon of the Seas has 20 decks and can accommodate a maximum of 7,600 passengers on board. She is owned by the Royal Caribbean group.
The ship will embark on a seven-day island-hopping voyage in the tropics.
But environmentalists warn that the ship powered by liquefied natural gas will release harmful methane into the air.
“It’s a step in the wrong direction,” said Bryan Comer, director of the Marine Program at the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), quoted by the Reuters news agency.
“We estimate that using LNG as a marine fuel emits more than 120% more greenhouse gas emissions over its life cycle than marine diesel,” he said.
LNG burns cleaner than traditional marine fuels such as fuel oil, but there is a risk of leaks.
Methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, traps 80 times more heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide over 20 years. Reducing these emissions is considered crucial to curbing global warming.
A Royal Caribbean spokesperson is quoted in the media as saying that Icon of the Seas is 24% more energy efficient than what the International Maritime Organization requires for modern ships. The company plans to introduce a net-zero emissions ship by 2035.
On Thursday, World Cup-winning Argentine captain Lionel Messi, who currently plays for Inter Miami, took part in the ship’s naming ceremony. He was seen placing a football on a specially constructed stand to bring about the traditional “good luck” of a champagne bottle breaking against the bow of the ship.
Icon of the Seas cost $2bn (£1.6bn) to build. It now has seven pools, six slides and more than 40 restaurants, bars and lounges.