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Silverstream wins the Seatrade Cruise Product of the Year Award

We are delighted to have won the Seatrade Cruise Product of the Year award! This is recognition of the innovative hard work and commitment of the entire Silverstream team.

The Silverstream® System enables cruise owners and operators to meet customer, regulator, and wider societal demands for improved environmental performance. The technology releases a carpet of bubbles to reduce the frictional resistance between the hull and the water, reducing average net fuel consumption and GHG emissions by 5-10%, as well as lowering fuel bills.

The system also has important associated benefits for the cruise industry. For example, it supports hull anti-fouling and it can also reduce underwater radiated noise (URN) for marine life, as well as reducing noise onboard to improve crew and passenger wellbeing. This is our conclusion based on recent research from Professor of Marine Engineering at University of London, John Carlton. It has all of these benefits that increasingly environmentally conscious customers and cruise operators are concerned about, while also significantly reducing fuel bills.

Silverstream’s first ever commercial installation of the Silverstream® System was back in 2015 on Norwegian Joy, operated by Norwegian Cruise Line. This was followed by installations on Princess Cruises’ Diamond Princess and Regal Princess, and, in H1 2023, Sky Princess and Enchanted Princess.

In Autumn 2022, Carnival signed a large fleet deal with Silverstream to install the system across its cruise brands; a clear recognition of the value and return on investment the technology offers cruise operators. These cruise clean technology trailblazers have also been proactive in supporting testing, pilot projects and performance verification.

Piers Strong, our Business Development Manager, attended Seatrade Europe 2023 and was at the ceremony to collect the award. Piers also featured on a panel discussion at the event where he continued to spread the word about the positive impact that the Silverstream® System is having within the cruise sector.

Silverstream supports Carnival Corp’s decarbonisation drive with ALS technology

Silverstream has signed an agreement with Carnival Corporation to implement its market-leading air lubrication technology, the Silverstream® System, involving the majority of Carnival’s brands, helping the world’s leading cruise company to significantly boost its decarbonisation drive while reducing its fuel bill.

In addition to five installations currently in progress, Silverstream’s technology will be retrofitted to an initial 10 vessels during their scheduled dry docks over the next five years. They form the first wave of the more than 40 ships in Carnival’s fleet that are suitable retrofit candidates for the Silverstream® System. The installations will cause zero disruption to the ships’ normal operations, and zero inconvenience to passengers. 

The Silverstream® System operates by generating a uniform carpet of air bubbles that reduces friction between a ship’s hull and the water. The system is effective in all sea conditions and is suitable for both newbuild and retrofit installations. Its implementation on Carnival’s ships will provide a significant contribution toward the company’s decarbonisation targets over the lifetime of the vessels.

The two organisations, who have been in partnership since 2016, are currently implementing Silverstream’s system onboard five of Carnival’s cruise ships, in addition to the two ships that already have the technology installed. For example, onboard Princess Cruises’ Diamond Princess, the Silverstream® System has achieved an approximate 5% net fuel and emissions saving.

Carnival recently contracted Silverstream to install its technology on two new Sphere-class cruise ships that are being built at a Fincantieri shipyard in Italy – the first being the 175,500 tonne Sun Princess, which is expected to be delivered in early 2024. The 345-metre newbuilds will be operated by Princess Cruises and powered by Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), paving the way for the next generation of low carbon passenger vessels.

Noah Silberschmidt, Founder & CEO, Silverstream Technologies, said: “Our relationship with Carnival goes from strength to strength. This landmark order of the Silverstream® System for a minimum of 10 of its cruise ships, with a view to potentially contracting more applicable vessels, is a hugely important sign of the times for the cruise sector. The segment’s largest operator is leading the way in adopting proven clean technologies that will help decarbonise its fleet – both in the short and long term – and we’re very happy to support our longstanding partner with this crucial transformation.”

Bill Burke, Chief Maritime Officer, Carnival Corporation, said: “The installation of this proven Silverstream air lubrication technology is another example of our ongoing efforts to drive energy efficiency and reduce fuel consumption and emissions throughout our fleet. We look forward to expanding the Silverstream ALS program and furthering our long-term sustainability strategy to continually invest in a broad range of energy reduction initiatives.”

 

Silverstream joins forces with industry leaders on EU-funded maritime decarbonisation project

Silverstream Technologies has announced that it is part of a consortium led by the University of Vaasa which has been granted EU funding under the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme to accelerate shipping’s decarbonisation pathway. 

Project CHEK – deCarbonising sHipping by Enabling Key technology symbiosis on real vessel concept designs – combines the expertise of a range of market leaders, including Silverstream Technologies, Cargill Ocean Transport, MSC Cruises, Wärtsilä, Lloyd’s Register, Climeon, Deltamarin, BAR Technologies, Hasytec Electronics and World Maritime University, all with the aim of reducing shipping’s emissions through the integrated use of low-carbon energy forms and propulsion systems, combined with energy efficiency technologies.

The consortium will work together to demonstrate the impact of a holistic approach to emission reduction in the design of two concept vessels; a bulk carrier, which will utilise sails to capture wind energy, and a cruise ship powered by hydrogen fuel. Both ship designs will feature Silverstream’s air lubrication technology – the Silverstream® System – as a central part of a suite of complimentary energy efficiency technologies. The Silverstream® System has been proven to generate between 5-10% net emissions savings, depending on vessel parameters. 

By treating energy efficiency as a fundamental building block of vessel design, and combining it with the application of clean technologies and future fuels, it is estimated that the designs will achieve a 99 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and a 50 percent reduced energy consumption. 

Speaking on the new consortium, Noah Silberschmidt, CEO, Silverstream Technologies, said: “Bold and progressive vessel designs that combine the most effective clean technologies with the cleanest future fuels are an obvious and necessary next step for a sector that needs to tackle decarbonisation today. This project recognises the central role that efficiency technologies will play in that decarbonisation journey. It also reflects the fact that only by uniting the best efficiency ideas and practices in integrated and intelligent designs will we achieve our goals.

“I am pleased that Silverstream can apply our years of experience of delivering and operating clean technologies to this project. We will continue to work closely with all partners in the consortium to ensure we make significant progress and fulfil our shared vision of a more sustainable shipping industry.” 

Project CHEK is scheduled to commence in spring 2021. The consortium believes that the holistic approach to emissions reduction pioneered in the two initial vessel designs can also be applied to other vessel types, such as tankers, container ships, general cargo vessels, and ferries. 

The project will also prepare for future scenarios and conduct an analysis of factors affecting the development potential for low-carbon shipping, including current and planned infrastructure. 

Silverstream retrofits air lubrication system on Carnival Corporation’s Diamond Princess

Silverstream today announced that Carnival Corporation, the world’s largest cruise vacation company, has successfully retrofitted the Silverstream® System‘s air lubrication technology, onto the Diamond Princess from its Princess Cruises brand. 

The system has been in operation since June 2017, reducing fuel consumption and related CO2 emissions. It recently completed its final contract trials, which demonstrated that the original performance expectations were exceeded with net efficiency improvements of over 5% at the design service speed, verified by Lloyd’s Register.

This project underscores Carnival Corporation’s commitment to environmental sustainability, and continues Silversteam’s significant progress in driving the uptake of credible clean technologies amongst ship owners. 

Carnival Corporation chose to retrofit Silverstream’s air lubrication system following an analysis of air lubrication technologies and Silverstream’s proven track-record for delivering tangible reductions in fuel costs and emissions, attained through comprehensive sea-trialling and in-operation data analysis. 

“Sustainability is a top priority for Carnival Corporation,” said Mike Kaczmarek, Vice President of Corporate Marine Technology for Carnival Corporation, whose global cruise line brands include Carnival Cruise Line, Cunard, Holland America Line, and Seabourn, in addition to Princess Cruises. “Our recent Sustainability Report, published in 2017, set clear goals for improving the efficiency of our fleet through overall operations and innovative solutions. Retrofitting Silverstream’s air lubrication technology on the Diamond Princess is another example of our ongoing efforts to leverage technology to reduce fuel consumption and emissions.” 

Noah Silberschmidt, CEO, Silverstream Technologies said: “The installation of the Silverstream® System on the Diamond Princess once again demonstrates the very real demand for proven clean technologies that are cost-effective, easy to implement and operate, and deliver the efficiency benefits that are claimed.” 

“Cruise operators are under increasing pressure from customers and regulators to improve sustainability,” he added. “Our work with Carnival Corporation and Princess Cruises reflects the growing confidence in our technology.” 

Additionally, data from installations has shown that noise and vibration emissions are reduced.