MSC Group’s cruise divisions have two different orders for hydrogen fuel cells, and each represents a different way in which the technology is starting to find a home in passenger shipping. In its latest move, the Swiss shipping giant ordered two luxury cruise ships to include a hydrogen fuel cell that experts say will allow the ships in the Explora Journeys luxury line to operate in port carbon-free. Already on the books was a plan to use a solid-oxide fuel cell that will run not on hydrogen but LNG, taking advantage of the efficiency of using the technology to feed the power needs of the cruise ship’s hotel load with a fuel that is more widely available. The twin approaches by MSC are part of growing moves by cruise majors toward fuel cells for auxiliary power as an arrow in the quiver of carbon emissions reduction efforts, though use of the technology remains in its early…
