- World’s largest cruise ship left the Port of Miami to great fanfare.
- The giant floating resort cost $2 billion to build, measures nearly 1,200 feet from bow to stern and weighs 250,800 metric tons.
- The launch of the ship has sparked renewed concerns about the environmental impact of cruise tourism.
As the world’s largest cruise ship set out for its maiden voyage last week, environmental concerns have cropped up about the leakage of harmful methane into the atmosphere due to these liquefied natural gas-powered vessels, reports the Indian Express.
Environmental concerns
The launch of the giant floating resort has sparked renewed concerns about the environmental impact of cruise tourism.
The ship is built to run on liquified natural gas, which burns more cleanly than other conventional marine fuels but contains high levels of methane.
Methane is about 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide when it comes to warming the atmosphere, and scientists have warned that methane emissions must be dramatically reduced to avoid the worst of what the climate crisis has in store.
“It’s a step in the wrong direction,” Bryan Comer, director of the Marine Program at the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), was quoted by Reuters as saying. “We would estimate that using LNG as a marine fuel emits over 120% more life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions than marine gas oil,” he added.
The ICCT released a report warning that methane emissions from LNG-fueled ships were higher than current regulations assumed, noting the use of LNG as a marine fuel is “rapidly growing.”
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Source: The Indian Express
