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AFP

The world’s largest liner departs from Miami

The world’s new largest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas, left the port of Miami (Florida) on Saturday for its maiden voyage to the Caribbean, despite allegations of anti-environmental monstrosity. At 365 meters long, with 20 decks, 2,805 cabins and 40 restaurants, this giant liner is a hymn to excess, the latest addition to the cruise sector in full recovery after the Covid years. The Icon of the Seas is American Cruises’ first ship registered in the Bahamas. The giant is powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), a fossil fuel that the industry touts as a cleaner alternative to heavy fuel oil but which releases methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. The vessel is equipped with a system that converts waste into gas. Royal Caribbean says it promises to reduce the environmental impact of this type of ship, one of the most common criticisms of the cruise industry. On his first trip to the Caribbean, he will visit Basseterre. Charlotte-Amelie, capital of the state of St. Kitts and Nevis, in the US Virgin Islands, then on the private island of Coco Cay in the Bahamas, before returning to Miami. passengers and 2,350 crew members. Divided into eight different districts, it includes seven swimming pools, nine jacuzzis and a 17-meter high waterfall. With a gross tonnage of 250,800 tons, five times the size of the Titanic, it left the Turku shipyard in Finland. The Miami-based company welcomed Lionel Messi, the star of the city’s soccer club, during the ship’s christening on Tuesday, to press a button that caused a bottle of champagne to crash on the hull. An epic race, Icon of the Seas replaces another ship from the same company. , Wonder of the Seas, as the world’s largest cruise ship.gma/ube/arb