It is estimated that the global shipping industry accounts for 3% of global CO2 emissions. While the cruising sector only represents a tiny fraction of global shipping, it must contribute to the agenda of solutions.

In 2018, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) adopted an initial strategy on the reduction of CO2 emissions from ships which envisages a reduction in carbon intensity of international shipping by at least 40% by 2030, pursuing efforts towards 70% by 2050, compared to 2008. Peace Boat acknowledges that the industry can and must do more. Land-based renewable energy solutions with a long history of success have yet to find their way onto cruise ships.

Ecoship aims to challenge the status-quo and has set itself a radical set of targets to demonstrate what is possible, and necessary for the industry to exist in a sustainable world. In order to meet these goals we knew we would need to work with experts from a diverse range of fields and that every element of the ship from its hull to its engines to its onboard programmes would need to work together.

We therefore took a whole-system integrated design approach to the project; A concept derived from the belief that elements of a system work best when they are specifically designed to complement, rather than to compensate for each other. To achieve this, we gathered world experts on naval architecture, marine engineering, renewable energy, energy efficiency, maritime law, biomimicry, and biophilia, for an Ecoship design charrette in Hamburg, Germany. This multi-disciplinary charrette approach had never before been applied to the cruise industry and the innovative outcomes formed the basis of our Ecoship specifications.

The architectural and exterior design of the Ecoship were developed by Oliver Design.

A key Ecoship deliverable is an estimated 30% CO2 reduction in comparison with a current cruise ship.

These results will be achieved through the combination of using LNG as main fuel, the propulsion efficiency, hull forms, accommodation efficiency, wind power and other renewable technologies, as well as by route, speed and management measures.