The largest cruise ship ever, 'Icon of the Seas' embarked on its maiden cruise from the Port of Miami on Saturday, leaving the world in awe of its luxury and engineering finesse.
'Icon of the Seas', the latest cruise from the Royal Caribbean, can accommodate 8,000 passengers across 20 decks. Tagged 'human lasagne' in social media, the cruise boasts a lot of firsts, including a water park which at 7,000-square-foot is considered the largest at sea. Sprawled across decks 16 and 17, the water park has six slides that include Frightening Bolt (the tallest drop slide at sea at 46 feet or 14 meters) and the first family raft slides at sea.
Besides, the ship also has the first cantilevered infinity pool at sea and the largest swimming pool at sea (the 40,000-gallon). It also has the largest ice arena at sea where guests can skate or watch a performance.
The ship also offers musical shows to keep passengers entertained with over 50 musicians. Besides, Icon of the Seas also has the largest orchestra at sea (16 pieces) as well as the first at-sea performance of 'The Wizard of Oz' complete with flying monkeys.
While the luxury offerings are impressive, what has caught the world's attention is its use of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), which is said to burn more cleanly than traditional marine fuel. However, social activists call the statement 'greenwashing' as LNG’s methane emissions are a more potent climate gas than CO2.
"Royal Caribbean’s decision to use LNG is their biggest climate blunder," Bryan Comer, marine program director at The International Council on Clean Transportation, told CNN. "LNG is mostly methane, a greenhouse gas that traps more than 80 times more heat than carbon dioxide in the first 20 years after it is emitted. The Icon of the Seas uses engines that release methane to the atmosphere in the form of ‘methane slip," he added.
According to Comer, the LNG can only significantly contribute to achieving climate goals when methane slip and other factors are greatly reduced or eliminated, which the council says is still a major challenge.
He says using such fuel shows an industry "investing in false climate solutions". "They are doubling down by calling LNG a green fuel when the engine is emitting 70 to 80% more greenhouse gas emissions per trip than if it used regular marine fuel," he said. "Icon has the largest LNG tanks ever installed in a ship. It is greenwashing."