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Cruise industry players and public decision-makers met on June 15 in Genoa for the first European summit on decarbonization, to call on governments to support the companies’ efforts to achieve zero carbon.
During the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Decarbonization Summit, leading cruise industry executives called on governments to support efforts by creating an enabling regulatory framework. Pierfrancesco Vago, executive chairman of MSC Cruises and global chairman of CLIA, alerted to the urgency of the situation: “We need a clear commitment from governments to ensure both access to adequate infrastructure and incentives for the development of sustainable shipping solutions.”
Investments will enable the industry to accelerate the delivery of sustainable fuels and maritime technologies, which are essential to achieving the 2050 net zero carbon cruise target.
A polluting industry
Indeed, this is far from being the case today. The cruise industry is a very polluting industry. The fuel used for ships is 3500 times heavier and more polluting than the diesel or gasoline used for cars. Their combustion emits sulfur oxide into the atmosphere. A substance that is not without danger to health, since it would be the cause of cancers, among other things. In 2017, the fleet of the world leader Carnival Corporation alone emitted 10 times more sulfur oxide than all the cars in the European fleet, according to the European Federation for Transport and Environment.
This is also the case for pleasure superyachts: “Rented at 225,000 euros to 1 million euros per week, consuming 2,000 liters of fuel per hour, superyachts are a magnifying mirror revealing the soaring economic inequalities and the acceleration of the ecological disaster,” insists Gregory Salle, author of Superyachts. Luxe, calme et écocide (published by Amsterdam, 2021). He reminds us that the fleet of the 300 largest superyachts in operation alone emits nearly 285,000 tons of carbon dioxide, which is as much or more than an entire country. This is a heavy environmental toll, at a time when countries around the world are taking drastic measures to counter global warming.
Short and long term solutions
Many investments have already been made in environmental research and innovation projects, but cruise lines remind us that building new ships is only part of the equation. Indeed, for efforts to be effective, ships will also need access to adequate infrastructure and a more sustainable fuel supply.
“It is essential that we now have a clear legislative framework to encourage the investment and innovation necessary for our industry to meet the EU’s 2030 ‘Fit for 55’ targets and, ultimately, our 2050 ambitions,” explains Marie-Caroline Laurent, CLIA’s managing director in Europe. To date, large-scale renewable marine fuel production capacity remains very limited.
Taking the lead, the MSC Group’s cruise division and Chantiers de l’Atlantique celebrated last week two notable advances in the construction of MSC Cruises’ first two liquefied natural gas ships in Saint-Nazaire. MSC has invested a total of 3 billion euros in the development of three LNG ships, and construction of the third ship will begin early next year.
In Barcelona, one of the cities most polluted by cruises, the city has decided to equip cruise ship docks so that they can be connected to electricity on land and not have to use fuel. The first docks equipped with this technology are expected to be built between 2026 and 2030. In addition, the number of docks should be reduced from 9 to 7 capable of accommodating cruise ships. For its part, the Catalan government is discussing a progressive tax on cruise lines, depending on their pollution levels by 2023.
To overcome these problems, the company Rivages du Monde has inaugurated the Word Explorer, a boat with a reduced capacity (180 people maximum) whose mini format allows it to invite itself in remote and very popular areas. Equipped with hybrid engines and a dynamic parking system that eliminates the need to drop anchor (and therefore to touch the marine fauna), it guarantees a “zero guilt” cruise for travelers looking for greener experiences.
Between more sustainable fuels, fewer travelers and government support, the challenges for the cruise industry in the coming years will be numerous.
Read also > CRUISE COMPANIES, HEAVILY IMPACTED BY THE WAR IN UKRAINE
Featured photo : MSC Croisières[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row njt-role=”not-logged-in”][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Cruise industry players and public decision-makers met on June 15 in Genoa for the first European summit on decarbonization, to call on governments to support the companies’ efforts to achieve zero carbon.
During the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Decarbonization Summit, leading cruise industry executives called on governments to support efforts by creating an enabling regulatory framework. Pierfrancesco Vago, executive chairman of MSC Cruises and global chairman of CLIA, alerted to the urgency of the situation: “We need a clear commitment from governments to ensure both access to adequate infrastructure and incentives for the development of sustainable shipping solutions.”
Investments will enable the industry to accelerate the delivery of sustainable fuels and maritime technologies, which are essential to achieving the 2050 net zero carbon cruise target.
A polluting industry
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Cruise industry players and public decision-makers met on June 15 in Genoa for the first European summit on decarbonization, to call on governments to support the companies’ efforts to achieve zero carbon.
During the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Decarbonization Summit, leading cruise industry executives called on governments to support efforts by creating an enabling regulatory framework. Pierfrancesco Vago, executive chairman of MSC Cruises and global chairman of CLIA, alerted to the urgency of the situation: “We need a clear commitment from governments to ensure both access to adequate infrastructure and incentives for the development of sustainable shipping solutions.”
Investments will enable the industry to accelerate the delivery of sustainable fuels and maritime technologies, which are essential to achieving the 2050 net zero carbon cruise target.
A polluting industry
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