Cruise Ship Engine, Propulsion, Fuel Consumption

Table Of Content

• Royal Caribbean Quantum-class cruise ships propulsion
• How Much Gas Does A Cruise Ship Use
• How Much Fuel Can a Cruise Ship Hold?
• Marine nuclear power engines
• Cruise Ship Fuel Consumption: How Much Fuel Does a Cruise Ship Use?
• Wind-assisted propulsion
• Factors Affecting Gas Consumption
• Princess Cruises Teams Up to Offer Easy Transportation to Florida Ports

Hence, the fuel consumption almost quadruples itself than a standard bulk vessel. The same does not stand true for cruises and container ships, where speed is of paramount importance. With such high speed, the specific fuel oil consumption goes way over the bar. Hence, the power requirements onboard ships are extremely high and diverse in usage. This needs multiple auxiliary engines and power systems for the upkeep.

Royal Caribbean Quantum-class cruise ships propulsion

Cruise ships, with their vast size and luxury amenities, have a significant fuel consumption requirement to power their operations. However, the cruise industry is actively addressing this challenge by exploring innovative solutions and embracing sustainable practices. The size and capacity of cruise ships, along with their speed and chosen itineraries, directly impact fuel consumption. In recent years, cruise lines have been exploring alternative fuel technologies and hybrid engine systems to further enhance fuel efficiency and reduce environmental impact.

How Much Gas Does A Cruise Ship Use

Can Cruises Become Climate Change Friendly? TIME - TIME

Can Cruises Become Climate Change Friendly? TIME.

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Unfortunately, cruise companies aren't big on letting engineers borrow their ships for experiments. It’s up to the cruise line’s discretion whether they charge the extra fee. Many cruise lines won’t charge added fees to avoid upsetting customers. Instead, they may raise prices on future cruises to compensate for the added fuel expense.

How Much Fuel Can a Cruise Ship Hold?

In the late 1950s, however, the U.S. government funded the construction of the NS Savannah, a nuclear-powered combination cargo-passenger ship. But in times of high gas, diesel, and oil prices, cruise lines may charge a fuel supplement to offset the cost of higher fuel prices. If you’ve traveled on a cruise ship, you may have noticed a fuel supplement added to your cruise fare, sometimes called a fuel surcharge. A fuel supplement is a fee added on top of cruise fares to offset high fuel costs. Compared to the available cargo ships, the draughts of cruise ships vary less. Because of this, the load parameters are dependent less on it and more on the weather.

A ticket for a cruise can be pricey, and you may wonder where exactly that money is going in terms of the ship’s operation. While paying staff and food costs are notable expenses for every cruise ship, one of the highest costs for your cruise is actually the fuel needed to run the ship. In terms of regular gasoline, that would be about 80,645 gallons; more fuel than you'll use in an entire lifetime of driving cars.

However, the tanks are not cumulative but distributive across the length. This accounts for the dynamic stability and also uses less space for higher passenger capacity. Hence, these vessels can give you speeds of 20 knots and more with such consumption.

Wind-assisted propulsion

This storied passenger liner is built for speed and is capable of a cruising speed of 29 knots and a top speed of 32.5 knots. Compare this to most cruise ships and you can see that the QM2 is a water rocket. According to Chavdar Chanev of CruiseMapper.com, the QM2 averages six tons of marine fuel per hour. ABB supplied the vessel's power and electric propulsion systems, as well as the Octopus (smart energy management system). While mechanical propulsion is optimized for a single-speed, electric propulsion is based on rotating speed control resulting in energy efficiency at all speeds. ABB's propulsion also improves passenger comfort as the ship runs much more quietly and smoothly.

Factors Affecting Gas Consumption

A ship’s fuel consumption depends on several factors varying from its structure to carriage capacity. Meanwhile, cruise liners have only one cargo, with the highest value amongst all, the human life! To approximate an ideal fuel consumption outline, the crew accounts for several changes. Depending on its size, a cruise ship might burn a gallon of fuel for every 30 to 60 feet it travels, according to the University of Colorado Boulder. Therefore, a cruise ship sailing one way to London from New York would consume around 338,000 of fuel to make that trip.

Princess Cruises Teams Up to Offer Easy Transportation to Florida Ports

At full power, they would burn around 1,377 gallons of fuel per hour, or about 66,000 gallons a day of high-polluting diesel fuel. It's important to note that Harmony of the Seas was the biggest cruise ship in the world until the new Symphony of the Seas took to the water in 2017. Water purification and desalination systems are another significant consumer of auxiliary power. Cruise ships rely on these systems to provide clean and potable water for drinking, cooking, and other purposes. The energy-intensive process of treating and purifying seawater requires careful management and optimization to minimize fuel consumption.

However, while diesel does have adverse effects on the environment, some cruise lines are working towards improving their diesel consumption and exploring other alternatives. The cylindrical rotor sail has a height of 24 m (79 ft) and a diameter of 4 m (13 ft). The technology is based on the "Flettner rotor" (patented by Anton Flettner in 1922) and uses the so-called "Magnus effect" - the spinning rotor (rotating cylinder) drags airflow faster around one side. This creates pressure/speed difference that moves it in the direction of the opposite (lower-pressure) side, creating a force at a right angle to the direction of the wind. Unlike traditional cloth sails, the rotor needs no furling (stowing), reefing (reducing sail's area) or line-tending.

Then steam is used to heat fuel and QM2 hotel accommodations, laundry, galleys. This reduces the energy amount that has to be produced by ship's engines. The Promas Lite system (mentioned above) generates cruise ship fuel savings in the range of 5-15% depending on the operation type and the actual performance of the ship's existing propeller. The power generated by the main engines/powerplant produces electricity that is used from the propulsion motors, as well as all auxiliary systems and hotel functions.

The fuel consumption for such ships reduced to 150MT when operating in the eco speed range. Moreover, it goes down further when the vessel is manoeuvring near the visiting ports. Most electric propulsion cruise ships have a twin-screw or triple-screw propeller design. In the electric propulsion systems, the main engine does not utilize any driving fuel.

Other cruise ships use Marine Gas Oil (MGO), especially in environmentally sensitive areas like the Arctic, where cleaner fuel use is mandated. Cruise ships primarily use a type of fuel called Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO), a residual product from the crude oil refining process, which is cheap but highly polluting. Some newer ships are powered by Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), which is cleaner but more expensive. A cruise ship that holds about 1,000 passengers can spend over $15,000 a day on fuel, depending on fuel prices. In general, a large cruise ship up to 1,100 feet in length can carry as much as two million gallons of fuel on board. For comparison, a private motor yacht between 40 and 60 feet only carries 200 to 1,200 gallons, while something massive like the Exxon Valdez carries up to 55 million gallons.

The most straightforward answer to this question is that small ships consume a much lower amount of fuel than large ships traveling the same distance. According to the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Colorado Boulder, a large ship might consume up to 250 tons of fuel per day. To put that in perspective, that’s equivalent to over 80,000 gallons of fuel a day.

The figures at 85% and above load go as high as 235 to 250 MT of fuel per day. It includes the power generation system for the generators available onboard.The boilers firing for steam generation also use the same grade of fuel. However, 80% of the fuel and more goes mainly into the propulsion of the ship. Cruise ships use either gas turbines, diesel-electric or diesel engines for propulsion and electric power. With this type of engine, the diesel fuels the pistons and crankshaft, which attaches to the propeller and ultimately moves the ship forward.