The Fantasia cruise ship
The Fantasia cruise ship was launched in Naples on 18 December 2008 and stands out for its leading-edge technology, for the attention paid to environment compatibility and sustainability and for the excellence of its Italian-made features. It is the largest cruise ship ever built by a European shipbuilder, weighing in at 137,936 tonnes, measuring 333 m long by 38 m wide and 67 m tall for a total surface area of 450,000 sq.m. It can carry 3,959 passengers in its 1,637 staterooms.
Eco-ship “MSC Fantasia” attains the peak of excellence in terms of its energy-saving system, meaning the optimisation of electricity consumption in the staterooms and public areas making for an average power saving of 20%. The aim is to save as much electricity as possible, and hence not to waste fuel.
However, the lighting is not the only smart system: the cabin monitoring system installed on board controls state room air-conditioning as well. The air-conditioning, is regulated by a digital device that takes account of whether the windows and doors are open or closed.
The “MSC Fantasia” has been awarded “Six Golden Pearls” – an integrated system certifying that it complies with the three highest environmental, health and food safety standards – by international classification corporation Bureau Veritas. In particular, the “MSC Fantasia” has won certification to ISO 14001, which centres primarily on energy saving and harmful emission reduction, OHSAS 18001, which focuses on crew health and safety, and ISO 22000 for the quality and safety of the food served on board. Last but not least, the shipbuilder has also won the Green Planet Award for the care taken to safeguard the environment. This is an international prize for which only hotels and tourist resorts have hitherto been eligible to compete, but which has recently been extended to take in cruise ships, which are, after all, floating resorts.
Waste recycling is another environment-conscious feature that marks out the ship. Fantasia, which is little short of a floating city, has high-capacity incinerators, advanced water treatment systems, the most up-to-date oil-water separators and large storage capacity giving it ample autonomy in full compliance with environmental safety. Last but not least, the hull walls are painted in special non-toxic, low environmental impact polymer paints.
