CLIA reveals that all its members will be equipped to connect to shoreside power as soon as possible
Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) has revealed its members will be equipped to connect to shoreside power by 2025 at the latest and has committed to pursuing net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
CLIA president and chief executive Kelly Craighead made the announcement at the State of the Global Cruise Industry keynote at Seatrade Cruise Global in Miami.
She announced CLIA is pursuing net-zero carbon cruising by 2050 – an evolution of its previous commitment to being carbon neutral. She also announced all CLIA members will be equipped to connect to shoreside power as soon as possible. Some 32% of all global cruise ship capacity can be equipped for shore power, which is forecast to jump to 66% in 2027.
But Ms Craighead appealed for ports to support cruise operators when it comes to shoreside power facilities. “Very few berths have this capacity, so we need ports to support this.”
MSC Group cruise division executive chairman Pierfrancesco Vago, in his role as CLIA global chairman, kicked off the State of the Global Cruise Industry keynote with a look at how the cruise industry has overcome pandemic challenges – but added the long-term target was to be “truly sustainable”.
On the pandemic, he said, “Today we can see a remarkable progress in how we respond to challenges, we see the momentum building and bringing back much-needed revenue.”
Explaining how the cruise industry has successfully met the challenges of Covid-19, he said, “We have a multi-layered approach, are adaptable and responding to the pandemic.”
But aside from Covid, he emphasised sustainability was the critical issue the cruise industry is focused on long term, and “many of us committed to net-zero emissions in the pandemic period.”
He highlighted LNG, fuel cells and green hydrogen as being some of the areas the cruise industry was investing in, and highlighted when bio and synthetic LNG is available, cruise ships could operate with zero emissions. He added many cruise ships were ready to operate on shore power. “We look forward to utilising this technology – the cruise industry is ready to plug in.”
He called on governments to help the cruise industry to decarbonise, saying it was “essential” governments involved the cruise industry in sustainable finance programmes.
In her keynote speech, Ms Craighead unveiled three pillars for the sustainability of the cruise sector: sustainable transport, sustainable hospitality and sustainable destination management. “We see a large amount of activity to strengthen these three pillars.”
Highlighting the importance of new ships entering the global fleet to reduce emissions for pillar one, Ms Craighead said LNG would power more than half of the global cruise fleet by 2027. She said, “LNG is a transitional fuel, through LNG ships are ready to adapt to new-generation fuels and cruise lines are working with suppliers to build the infrastructure for bio and synthetic fuels, lithium-ion batteries and fuel cells. The adoption of LNG early has contributed to the supply infrastructure.”
