Slime removing robot to make new Royal Caribbean ship more energy efficient

Operator reveals details of sustainable technologies onboard Icon of the Seas

Soon-to-launch Icon of the Seas is expected to be 20% more energy-efficient than Royal Caribbean’s latest Oasis-class vessel, Wonder of the Seas.

Icon will be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) – the cleanest marine fuel available to lines – and will create energy on board using fuel cells.

The line’s chief product innovation officer Jay Schneider said: “Icon will be 20% more efficient than Wonder of the Seas as a result of LNG.”

Icon (pictured) will also have a robotic hull cleaner to remove debris when the ship is docked in port and every cabin will have an “eco-mode” function meaning that energy sources automatically power down when passengers go ashore.

Power in the cabin turns back on when the passengers taps in their SeaPass cruise card on returning to the ship.

The robot that removes “slime” from the hull will make Icon “3% to 4% more energy efficient”, added Anshul Tuteja, associate vice president, fleet optimization at Royal Caribbean Group.

He said this was the first time such a device would be based on a Royal ship.

Tuteja also confirmed that fuel was currently Royal’s “biggest line expense”.

But he added switching to cleaner fuel types was “the right thing to do” and insisted that their development was “evolving” process.

“There’s no single silver bullet,” he said. “We’re testing these things.”