Richard Branson and the team at Virgin Voyages have taken the delivery of the shiny new Scarlet Lady; the first of the VV fleet and a ship that will take action to address climate change.
Scarlet Lady is the first of four vessels being built for the line in Genoa, Italy.
Next month, she will undertake her maiden voyage to her home port in Miami where she will offer cruises to the Caribbean.
“I’m so proud that as we start this exciting journey, we also bring to life Virgin Voyages’ commitment to preserving the ocean and the first of many steps towards a net-zero carbon future.”
Sir Richard Branson, Founder of the Virgin Group
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The 110,000gt Scarlet Lady is 278m long and 38m wide. She features over 1,400 guest cabins designed to host more than 2,770 passengers, accompanied by 1,160 crew members on board.
Scarlet Lady
Virgin Voyages welcomes Scarlet Lady with an approach that takes immediate action to address climate change, according to a company statement.
Virgin Voyages is boasting of an industry-leading approach that takes immediate action to address climate change. Not only has the brand designed its fleet of ships to the latest energy-efficiency standards with state-of-the-art equipment including a waste heat recovery system, but Virgin Voyages is also offsetting its direct climate change emissions through the purchase of carbon offsets.
The operator claims this commitment makes the brand the first cruise line to become carbon-neutral for its direct emissions footprint from its first day of commercial operation.
The projects that will be supported by Scarlet Lady will meet internationally-recognised verification standards, including The Gold Standard and the Verified Carbon Standard.
“The ocean is our home, and we are on a mission to protect it. The single biggest threat facing our ocean is climate change, and we want to be part of the solution,”
Tom McAlpin, CEO, and President of Virgin Voyages.
“We are committed to pioneering new technologies onboard and working with our industry peers to advance research and development for zero-carbon fuels”, McAlpin continued.
Virgin Voyages’ second ship, Valiant Lady, is currently under construction in the same yard and will be delivered in 2021.
Third and the fourth ships that are currently unnamed, will set sail respectively in 2022 and 2023.
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