Wärtsilä Hamworthy has signed a deal with the Meyer Werft to build hybrid scrubbers for Royal Caribbean's new Sunshine Class ships that have been kept very secretively.
Wärtsilä Hamworthy is a leading marine scrubbing technology company and will provide a total of four hybrid scrubber systems for the two ships that are under construction in Germany.
The choice of scrubbers for Royal Caribbean's new Sunshine class vessels will enable the new ships to travel anywhere in the world, because the scrubbers will be compliant with the 2015 Emission Control Area (ECA) 0.1% sulfur limit, as well as the worldwide 0.5% limit from 2020 and the impending North American ECA, by removing sulfur emissions and harmful particulates from the vessel's exhaust.
Royal Caribbean and Meyer Werft chose this solution not just because it ensures universal compliance with sulfur limits, allowing maximum choice over voyage routes and destinations; it also allows significant flexibility in the operation of the scrubber itself. The hybrid approach allows switching between open-loop and closed-loop scrubbing. This means that at sea, scrubbing using only sea water can be enabled but while maneuvering or in port the system can be closed, re-circulating the water already within the scrubber.
Royal Caribbean's two new Sunshine Class ships are both under construction, with the first ship ready for delivery in the fall of 2014 and the second ship ready by spring 2015. Both ships will accommodate 4100 passengers.