The EOSEAS concept cruise ship.
Photo-illustration courtesy STX Europe
A few days ago, we told you about the soon-to-be largest ship in the world, Oasis of the Seas. But STX Europe, the shipyard that built her, has some equally fascinating plans of their own.
Not simply content to build amazing ships for other clients, the team at STX Europe Saint Nazaire spent years researching and developing an eco-friendly concept cruise ship of the future. Her name? EOSEAS.
Designed to leave the smallest possible eco-footprint, EOSEAS harnesses both new - and not so new - technologies. Propulsion is provided by generators and engines that utilize natural gas instead of traditional marine bunker fuel - a type of unrefined sludge that is left over from the gasoline refinement process. In addition to this, EOSEAS boasts five masts with sails that can harness the wind with their available 12,440 square meters of surface area.
Solar panels assist in providing electrical power for the ship, and also act as a kind of double skin, helping to keep cool air in the ship and hot air outside. Waste treatment and water recycling programs, already standard on many modern cruise ships, are used to great effect in the EOSEAS prototype.
Perhaps the most innovative aspect, aside from the re-introduction of sail power after almost a 100-year gap in commercial use, is the hull of the ship itself: EOSEAS is designed around a catamaran-like hull that not only offers greater stability and efficiency, but opens the doors for entirely new passenger experiences - a lounge literally suspended over the sea, for instance.
If built, the EOSEAS would be 1000 feet long, with a width of 196 feet. This would make her not the longest, but most definitely the widest, cruise ship afloat. She would carry 3,311 passengers and 1,089 crew for a total compliment of 4,400 souls on board.
Will EOSEAS see the light of day? Given the current economic situation and the threat of ever-increasing fuel costs, not to mention increased environmental regulations in destinations like Alaska, it's no stretch to imagine that many aspects of EOSEAS will be implemented in newbuilds in years to come.
For more information, visit the EOSEAS page on STX Europe's site.
Not simply content to build amazing ships for other clients, the team at STX Europe Saint Nazaire spent years researching and developing an eco-friendly concept cruise ship of the future. Her name? EOSEAS.
Designed to leave the smallest possible eco-footprint, EOSEAS harnesses both new - and not so new - technologies. Propulsion is provided by generators and engines that utilize natural gas instead of traditional marine bunker fuel - a type of unrefined sludge that is left over from the gasoline refinement process. In addition to this, EOSEAS boasts five masts with sails that can harness the wind with their available 12,440 square meters of surface area.
Solar panels assist in providing electrical power for the ship, and also act as a kind of double skin, helping to keep cool air in the ship and hot air outside. Waste treatment and water recycling programs, already standard on many modern cruise ships, are used to great effect in the EOSEAS prototype.
Perhaps the most innovative aspect, aside from the re-introduction of sail power after almost a 100-year gap in commercial use, is the hull of the ship itself: EOSEAS is designed around a catamaran-like hull that not only offers greater stability and efficiency, but opens the doors for entirely new passenger experiences - a lounge literally suspended over the sea, for instance.
If built, the EOSEAS would be 1000 feet long, with a width of 196 feet. This would make her not the longest, but most definitely the widest, cruise ship afloat. She would carry 3,311 passengers and 1,089 crew for a total compliment of 4,400 souls on board.
Will EOSEAS see the light of day? Given the current economic situation and the threat of ever-increasing fuel costs, not to mention increased environmental regulations in destinations like Alaska, it's no stretch to imagine that many aspects of EOSEAS will be implemented in newbuilds in years to come.
For more information, visit the EOSEAS page on STX Europe's site.
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