Euribia was handed over to MSC during a ceremony at France’s Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire on Wednesday (31 May) marking another "significant step", said MSC, in its cruise division’s journey to decarbonisation.

The line said the technologies underpinning Euribia’s sustainability credentials represented a "leap forward" from previous vessels of the same class.

Besides being powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), MSC said it had made improvements to its onboard wastewater treatment systems and waste management handling, adding Euribia had been designed to take advantage of carbon-neutral synthetic and other alternative fuels "as soon as they are available at scale".

MSC said Euribia exceeded IMO Energy Efficient Design Index requirements and claimed the ship would, effectively, be the most environmentally-friendly ship in the world to date, emitting nearly 20% less greenhouse gases per passenger per day than its sister ships and 44% less than ships built just a decade ago.

The group’s aim is to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas marine operations by 2050. Executive chair Pierfrancesco Vago said Euribia would deliver "a huge reduction" in greenhouse gas emissions throughout its lifetime.

Vago said MSC had paid particular attention to ensuring Euribia can be retrofitted with new technologies and efficiencies, such as the ability to accommodate new sustainable fuels, such as green methanol, as they come to market.

In what it claims is an industry first, Euribia will sail a net-zero greenhouse gas emissions voyage from Saint-Nazaire to Copenhagen utilising bio-LNG which has been certified to have been produced in compliance throughout its supply chain to EU Renewable Energy Directive standards.

MSC said it had reduced the emissions intensity of its ship operations by a third since 2008, and was on course to achieve a 40% reduction by 2030.

Meanwhile, a coin ceremony has been held for the line’s third LNG-powered ship, MSC World America. Due in 2025, the ship will build on many of the advancements and innovations pioneered by Euribia and further steps such as technologies that "virtually eliminate" methane slip when powered by LNG.