An important buzzword for passengers when booking a cruise in the era of environmental awareness is sustainability, something cruise ship companies are increasingly focusing on, with ships designed to run on renewable fuels like biofuels and synthetic carbon fuels. Cruise lines are also investing in advanced technologies to reduce emissions both at sea and while docked. Technology which allows ships to plug into the local power grid while at port, thus reducing the need to run their engines, cuts emissions significantly.
GOLDEN HORIZON • The five-masted schooner Golden Horizon is the world’s largest sailing ship. Designed by Brodosplit Shipyard Ltd and Polish naval architect Zygmunt Choren (in respect of masts and sails), she was modelled on the 1912-built sailing vessel France II, which was the world’s largest at the time. She was built at the Brodosplit Shipyard, Split, Croatia in 2021, intended for Star Clippers as Flying Clipper, but was later chartered by Tradewind Voyages and renamed Golden Horizon, but Tradewind Voyages subsequently ceased trading. The ship is currently available for charter through superyacht brokerage firm TWW Yachts of Monaco. Launched on 10 June 2017, she measures 162m by 18.5m, has a sail area of 6,347mspread across 36 sails and can accommodate up to 272 passengers and 159 crew members. 2
Other, smaller cruise companies are looking in a different direction, and making greater efforts to harness the power of the winds and currents, offering luxury cruises on sailing ships, which can often travel for up to 70 per cent of a voyage using the wind, thus greatly reducing their emissions and carbon footprint.