Ocean liner Ambience”: From a cruise to an island in the sea!

Ocean liner Ambience”: From a cruise to an island in the sea!

The story of the British Ambassador Cruise Line's cruise ship “Ambience” is a real roller coaster ride. Originally commissioned in 1991 under the name Regal Princess for Princess Cruises, the ship was built by the renowned Italian shipyard Fincantieri and christened by former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Renowned architect Renzo Piano provided the design, which has since survived several name changes and taken tens of thousands of passengers on their journeys Uckermark courier reported.

A notable turning point in the ship's history came in 2019 when it was purchased by the Ocean Builders, a group of libertarian idealists. They planned a transformation into a “state-free island” in the Gulf of Panama, a concept known as seasteading. According to that Seasteading Institute This concept is intended to create living spaces on the sea, far away from state control. Interestingly, it was also planned to name the ship after Bitcoin inventor Satoshi Nakamoto. But the initiative stalled because legal hurdles, particularly regarding environmental regulations and insurance issues, prevented implementation.

Last minute rescue

So it happened that the ship was to be sold to India for scrap during a voyage to Panama. However, this plan was stopped by the Basel Convention. The rescue was carried out by the newly founded Ambassador Cruise Line, which acquired the ship for around 12.5 million US dollars. After extensive modernization, it was renamed “Ambience” in 2022 and has been sailing the world's oceans again since then. The “Ambience” will arrive in Warnemünde on September 4, 2023.

This group of cruise ships is by no means an isolated case. There are over 400 cruise ships worldwide, each with a capacity of around 4,000 passengers. The new cruise ship “Icon of the Seas” with a capacity for 7,600 passengers will be put into operation in 2024, as shown on Planet knowledge is to be read. But while such numbers are impressive, they also cast a shadow over the sustainability and ecological impact of cruise tourism.

Sustainability and ecological challenges

Cruise ships, which often use heavy fuel oil, raise significant environmental issues in the debate about sustainable travel. These heavy oils are not only more harmful to the environment than the fuels used in cars or trucks, but their high sulfur content contributes to air pollution and has been classified by the WHO as potentially carcinogenic. A sea voyage from the UK to New York can produce up to 9 tonnes of CO2 equivalents per passenger, while a return flight from Düsseldorf to New York produces just 2.8 tonnes.

The problem is further compounded by the fact that passengers generate more than 300 liters of wastewater every day and produce waste that also includes toxic components. Tragically, 20-40% of cruise tourists often do not come from land at all, minimizing the economic benefit to the cities they call at. Cities like Venice have already taken action and introduced a ban on anchoring for large cruise ships.

Although “Ambience” tells an exciting story of rescue and new beginnings, there is a larger problem behind it that makes you think. It remains to be hoped that future initiatives, such as those of the Ocean Builders, will find new ways to solve these challenges - far away from conventional approaches and with a clear focus on sustainability.