We Get a Sneak Peek at the New Silver Nova
One of the perks of playing leadership roles at cruise lines is getting unfettered access to ships throughout the design and construction process. Yesterday, a team of executives from Royal Caribbean Group, Silversea’s parent company, trooped to Eemshaven, Netherlands, to check on the progress of Silver Nova.
Barbara Muckermann, Silversea’s president, was joined by Royal Caribbean Group’s Jason Liberty, Richard Fain and Harri Kulovaara, and Meyer Werft’s Jan and Bernard Meyer, to inspect Silver Nova and to thank its workers.
Silver Nova introduces an industry-leading approach to sustainability, an unprecedented openness to the world and an entirely new take on luxury at sea,” Muckermann says. “She is a beauty, and I can’t wait to personally greet our guests on board, introducing them to the future of ultra-luxury cruise travel.”
Why sustainability matters
As the first in Silversea’s Nova class of ultra luxury ships, Nova’s innovative new technologies, as related to sustainability and a stronger-than-ever commitment to the environment, start with the principal fuels it will use: liquified natural gas (LNG) and marine gas oil (MGO).
As we have been reporting on Discover, this approach and many others minimizes carbon emissions, which will be considerably reduced compared with the line’s newest, most advanced ships.
“At Silversea, we have always been very careful in minimizing our impact and preserving the very remote and beautiful locations that we are visiting,” Roberto Bruzzone, senior vice president of Marine Operations, tells us. “We understood that it was time to start forward with a new class of ship that was extraordinarily directed to sustainability.”
Other enhancements, he tells us, include the ship’s hull. “The hull will be redesigned and optimized for dynamic efficiency to minimize the consumption of fuel while maintaining the speed we need for the itinerary,” Bruzzone says. Increased reliance on LED lighting also will decrease power consumption. “And the vessel will be installed with a micro gasification system, one of the world’s most compact and efficient technologies to convert what we produce as waste into thermal energy.”
Silver Nova’s design is also groundbreaking
Another first for Silver Nova: Its bold, asymmetrical design emphasizes spaciousness and a seamless, unobstructed connection between the ship and its surroundings for everything from suites to its outer decks.
Silver Nova debuts this summer with itineraries in the Mediterranean before repositioning this winter to the Caribbean and Central America. It will also host the 71-day Grand Voyage South America in early 2024.