Could This Ecoship Change the Cruise Industry?

Although traditional cruise lines have made huge strides in making ships more sustainable, one Japanese nonprofit could elevate the entire industry to the next level.

Peace Boat works to promote sustainable development, running extended educational voyages that sail around the globe to show how ecosystems function and how to better care for the environment.

“Unfortunately, the boat we use is just a conventional boat, so it’s not the best for the environment,” explains Yoshioka Tatsuya, founder and director of Peace Boat. “I thought it was our responsibility to try to do something about that, and the Ecoship is our answer.”

Though cruises are popular and a major source of revenue for the home-based travel agent, traditional cruise ships still burn a lot of fuel and give off plenty of waste.

Peace Boat’s new Ecoship is looking to change that.

Ecoship took three years to design and uses the body shape of whales as inspiration for a truly “hydrodynamic” ship. With 10 retractable sails, 10 retractable wind turbines and plenty of solar panels, the company has drastically reduced the amount of fuel needed to get from point A to point B.

“The Ecoship combines innovative energy efficiency measures; use of renewable energies; nature-inspired design and the implementation of real ecosystems on board,” says Tatsuya. “When it finally sets sail, it will achieve 20% cuts in propulsion energy, 50% cuts in electricity and a 40% reduction in CO2 emissions.”

The propulsion system isn’t the only new piece of tech Ecoship is bringing to the industry. It's also bringing an entire ecosystem.

With a closed-loop water use system, wastewater will be purified and reused for various purposes such as irrigating the onboard garden, which will be also be fed with organic waste. Not only does that reduce the amount of waste it creates, this also means that Ecoship will have zero water discharge and no sea dumping.

The building materials will also have a huge impact on the sustainability of the ship, namely steel.

“All of the resistant structure will be made of steel,” explains Andrés Molina, project manager for the Ecoship. “About 95% of structural weight will be made of steel. It’s the most suitable material for ships because of its low cost and high strength to weight ratio. It also helps that it isn’t easily corroded by salt water.”

Currently, Peace Boat is only building one Ecoship. Due to set sail in 2020, the hope is that market demand will allow the company to build four more ships by 2030.