Cruise Lines International Association (Clia), has highlighted the “urgent need” for governments to support research efforts to accelerate development of sustainable marine fuels.
Its call for support from policymakers comes in a report showing progress towards achieving the industry’s vision of net-zero carbon cruising globally by 2050.
The 2022 Global Cruise Industry Environmental Technologies and Practices Report shows how more ships will be able to incorporate zero-emissions propulsion and the investment to equip ships to plug in to shoreside electricity where available.
More than 15% of the vessels to be launched in the next five years will be equipped to incorporate fuel cells or batteries, and 85% of Clia-member ships coming online between now and 2028 will be able to plug in to shoreside electricity, allowing engines to switch off at berth for significant emissions reduction.
However, the report says a transition to sustainable marine fuels remains essential to the maritime industry’s decarbonisation goals.
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Pierfrancesco Vago, Clia Global chair, said: “For this next phase of our journey to net-zero as an industry, we now need clear support from governments and policymakers to ensure that the right infrastructure is developed also on land and to encourage the investment and innovation that will be required for the development of sustainable marine fuels at scale.”
Kelly Craighead, Clia president and chief executive, added: “The cruise industry continues to lead the way by investing billions to incorporate new technologies, accelerate development of sustainable marine fuels – in particular, engines capable of using sustainable marine fuels – and enable shoreside electricity connectivity on existing and new ships.
“These are the fundamental building blocks for the decarbonisation of global shipping, and we are acting now for the future.”
Andy Harmer, managing director at Clia UK & Ireland, said: “The UK government has demonstrated its commitment to facilitating the transition to a greener maritime industry through the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK Shore), which launched earlier this year to advance the UK towards a sustainable shipping future.
“Our industry is working closely with UK Shore through its clean maritime demonstration competition to develop new technologies that will allow the cruise sector to contribute to the government’s net-zero aims, whilst making the UK a global leader in clean maritime technologies.”