The latest generation ships will operate or already operate with more sustainable alternative fuels than petroleum derivatives such as LNG or green hydrogen. But what about the entire fleet that sails around the world today? Unless shipping companies change all their tank and engine systems, biofuels are the only medium-term solution to reduce their carbon footprint. Along these lines, Royal Caribbean is the first shipping company that has carried out a pilot test in the port of Barcelona, which has achieved a 20% reduction in CO2 with one of its large cruise ships, the Symphony of the Sea.
Throughout twelve weeks this past summer, the Symphony of the Seas, built in 2018 and with capacity for more than 6,000 passengers, has sailed through the Mediterranean departing from the port of Barcelona with an 80% formed fuel mixture. by traditional diesel and the remaining 20% by a biofuel based on waste recycling such as, for example, hydrotreated cooking oil, whose supplier has been Repsol. The tests have not only consisted of using the auxiliary engines in the port of Barcelona, but throughout the entire journey through the Mediterranean with the propulsion of the main engines.
"We are very happy with the result; not only because we have reduced C02 by 20%, but because NOx (nitrogen oxides) has not increased, as we feared, and has even been slightly reduced," explains Nicholas Rose, vice president and head of ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) of Royal Caribbean Group. "From now on we will be able to continue progressively increasing the percentage of the mixture until it can be 100% biodiesel and we will achieve zero emissions, which is our main objective and commitment."
According to Rose, the tests have had a very technical component, such as checking how the engines and generators have responded to the injection of a new fuel. But also a logistical one, such as seeing to what extent they will be able to have sufficient supply, as it is an emerging market with many ramifications. In this sense, official Repsol sources recall that they are about to inaugurate the first advanced biofuels plant in Spain in Cartagena, which will produce 250,000 tons per year of advanced biofuels such as biodiesel, biojet, bionaphtha and biopropane, which can be used in airplanes. , boats, trucks or cars. These tons will be added to the more than 750,000 tons that Repsol already produces in its plants, which will make it one of the main suppliers in the country.
Royal Caribbean, which is also carrying out pilot tests in the ports of Vancouver, Los Angeles and Rotterdam with other types of biofuels, estimates that in the 2025 season the company's ships may already be sailing in Barcelona with 100% renewable diesel, that is, with tanks completely full of HVO. It is unknown, however, what impact it will have on the cruise industry, given that it is a fuel between 2 and 2.5 times more expensive than normal, and "we anticipate that as the green percentage increases in the mixture, the ships will consume more,” adds Rose. Will this energy change force cruise prices to increase? At the moment, no one has the answer.
