The travel group TUI is currently advertising a cruise on a “floating fool’s stronghold” with a carnival atmosphere on board. Market leader Aida leads in the on-board catering “Soulkitchen”, meaning restaurants with vegan cuisine. The cruise lines are leaving the years of the corona pandemic behind, are active again and are reporting record bookings.
When it comes to the environmental compatibility of cruise ships, however, there is only slow movement. In its eleventh cruise ranking, the German Nature Conservation Union (Nabu) confirms that the shipping companies have made progress when it comes to propulsion technology and the fuels used. But each company’s improvements are based almost entirely on ships that are on order or under construction. What can currently be seen on the seas are almost exclusively “pilot projects”, as Nabu calls them. The conclusion is that there will only be a breakthrough towards an environmentally friendly cruise in the course of the decade.
The two small cruise lines Havila and Hurtigruten are at the top of the rankings. On their few ships, these Norwegian companies already use batteries to support the propulsion. There are clear guidelines in the country. From 2026, cruise ships with conventional engines will be banned from sailing on the coasts and in the fjords. Battery drive or synthetic fuels without carbon dioxide emissions are then the alternatives.
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Aida, the German subsidiary of the British-American group Carnival Corporation, follows in third place. The next largest provider with cruise ships for several thousand passengers in Germany, TUI Cruises, is fifth behind the small cruise line Ponant.
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TUI Cruises is owned half by the TUI Group and half by Royal Caribbean Cruises from the USA. Well-known industry companies such as MSC, Norwegian Cruise Lines and Hapag-Lloyd are in the next places. Carnival Corporation and Marella Cruises land on the lower ranks. No answer to the questions from the Nabu provider Phönix Reisen and Viking Ocean Cruises.
The Nabu asked a total of 14 criteria for the plans of the shipping companies as well as for the existing fleet of ships. These include statements about the Paris climate protection agreement as well as fixed data on the way to climate neutrality. The technical criteria include the use of soot particle filters or energy-saving measures.
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In fact, the picture that emerges is a glimpse into the future of cruise lines. “2023 will be the year of the decision,” says Sönke Diesener, who works at Nabu in the federal association as a transport policy officer. A year later, the environmental technology announced today must have become standard on cruise ships.
Large shipping companies such as TUI Cruises or Norwegian Cruise Lines have ordered new ships that are powered by methanol, biodiesel or other fuels with low or no carbon dioxide emissions. Battery technology and hydrogen as a drive type are already being worked on. “We expect that the first climate-neutral cruise will be available by the end of this decade,” says Diesener. However, according to the statement, it will take ten to 15 years before these new fuels and drives will be available in sufficient quantities.
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As of today, however, according to Nabu’s findings, most cruise ships are still using conventional fuel. “Every second cruise takes place on a ship powered by heavy oil,” says Nabu expert Diesener. Heavy oil is the waste product from the refineries in the production of petrol, diesel or kerosene and is considered extremely harmful to the environment.
Using so-called scrubber technology, pollutants are washed out of the exhaust gases, but the water gets back into the sea. Some shipping companies such as Aida, on the other hand, have gas-powered ships. The liquefied natural gas used there burns with lower carbon dioxide emissions than heavy oil.
“Climate protection according to cash situation”?
It would already be possible today to switch to less harmful marine diesel on a large scale. However, this fuel is up to twice as expensive. The Nabu accuses the companies of doing “climate protection according to the cash situation”.
This answer comes from the industry: “Some shipping companies use marine diesel. This is the individual decision of the companies,” says Helge Grammerstorf, Managing Director in Germany for Cruise Lines International Association. The trend in ship orders is clearly towards propulsion with methanol or marine gas oil. However, these fuels would also have to be available. The task of politics is to set incentives for their production.
According to this organization, about 15 percent of the cruise ships that will be put into service in the next five years will be equipped with fuel cells or batteries. Member cruise lines have committed to offering zero-carbon cruising worldwide by 2050.
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On the other hand, there has been significant progress on another important issue for cruises, namely the energy supply in the ports. These floating hotels spend around 40 percent of the travel time on the quay walls and not on long journeys. The energy consumption of a cruise giant can then be the size of a small town.
A number of ports – in Germany, for example, Hamburg, Kiel or Rostock – offer shore power systems for this purpose. The cities, in turn, use electricity from wind power or other renewable energy sources. According to Nabu, the ship fleets of Aida and TUI Cruises, for example, have now been completely switched to shore power supply.
EU introduces quotas for sustainable fuels
On the west coast of the USA, the use of shore power is already a requirement. All this, however, does little to change the fact that electricity generation by the ship’s own engine is widespread on cruise ships worldwide – with the associated pollutants from the chimneys.
One reason for the improvement is new regulations from the European Union. For example, the international community has required cruise lines to use shore power in their ports since 2023. The EU is also introducing certain quotas for sustainable fuels such as artificial diesel, methanol or hydrogen as a regulation, albeit in small steps. The shipping experts at Nabu describe the rules as a “breakthrough”, even if it is a long process. This would give companies security for their planning and investments.
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