BIO-SEA’s BWTS for world’s largest LNG-powered cruise ship

MSC World Europa, the first in a series of four next-generation cruise ships to join the MSC Cruises’ fleet, has been delivered with a ballast water treatment system (BWTS) from BIO-SEA by BIO-UV Group.

French shipbuilding company Chantiers de l’Atlantique delivered the vessel in Saint-Nazaire on 24 October. The ship measures 580.3 meters in length and is able to accommodate 6,762 passengers with a crew of 2,138.

The cruise ship incorporates the latest environmentally friendly characteristics, and BIO-SEA B02 0300 BWTS was selected as being the most effective way of meeting the ship’s 300cbm/h ballast water flow rate requirement, according to the firm. The system also features an embedded power management cabinet for ease of operation.

Additionally, it is the world’s first contemporary cruise ship to feature solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology powered by liquefied natural gas. The ship is outfitted with a 150-kilowatt SOFC demonstrator that will use LNG to produce electricity and heat by means of an electrochemical reaction.

“We have a long relationship with Chantiers de l’Atlantique going back more than ten years, so pleased to partner with the shipbuilder on this milestone MSC Cruises flagship and other vessels,” Benoît Gillmann, BIO-UV Group’s President and CEO said.

Similar units are installed on all four of the shipowner’s Meraviglia- and Meraviglia Plus-class vessels, MSC Bellisima, MSC Meraviglia, MSC Grandiosa and MSC Virtuosa.

The shipyard has ordered the same type of BIO-SEA units for a third and fourth vessel in the World-class series. A second ship, MSC World America, is already under construction.