By
Richard Humphreys |
Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) has published its annual Environmental Technologies and Practices (ETP) report.
This year’s report reflects environmental technologies in place on CLIA-member cruise line ships in operation through 2025, which covered 297 oceangoing ships. The results show continuous and measurable progress by CLIA-member cruise lines in the adoption of environmental technologies and practices.
“Year after year, the data show cruise lines continuing to invest in the technologies, fuels and operational capabilities that are making the global cruise fleet more efficient and positioning it for the future,” said Bud Darr, president and CEO of CLIA. “The progress reflected in this report is the result of sustained investment and innovation by the world’s cruise lines – from more efficient ships and fuel-flexible engines to onshore power capability and advanced environmental systems.
“Cruise lines are continuing to invest in support of ambitious decarbonisation objectives by building ships capable of using new and lower-emissions energy sources alongside a range of other environmental technologies and practices. Realising the full potential of those investments will require fuel producers, governments, ports, energy providers and other stakeholders to help create the conditions for safe, competitively priced renewable and lower-emissions fuels to be available at scale, supported by the infrastructure needed to deliver them.”
One focus of the report concerns multi-fuel engines, where ships can switch from conventional fuels to zero- and near-zero emission fuels both in port and at sea. In 2018, one ship operated with a multi-fuel engine; today that number has risen to 30.
Based on the August 2026 cruise orderbook, 31 CLIA-member multi-fuel capable ships are forecast to be in service by the end of 2026, with that number rising to 56 by 2030 and 69 by the end of 2039.
Another highlight of the report is the number of ships that have the ability to connect to an onshore power supply. In 2018, 55 ships had the ability; eight years later, that figure has risen to 193. In addition, 47 ships are planned to be retrofitted with shoreside electricity systems, and 39 newbuild ships are specified to be fitted with the technology. By 2039 an estimated 279 ships (representing 74 per cent of ships) are forecast to have shore power capability.
However, only 40 ports – fewer than three per cent – have at least one cruise berth with shore power facilities. CLIA reports these projections underscore the need for the cruise industry’s continued investment in ship-side readiness, especially in compatible port and energy infrastructure where cruise ships call. As part of the European Union’s ‘Fit for 55’ decarbonisation regulations, by 2030 all major ports in Europe will be required to offer shore power connectivity, which will further accelerate port infrastructure investment in that region.
“This report shows we are doing the right things as an industry,” said Darr at Seatrade Cruise Med 2026. “We have a commitment well into the future to not only continue doing the right things but exponentially increase our efforts in that particular space.”
Published annually since 2018, the report offers an industry-wide perspective of what is happening among CLIA-member cruise lines and tracks year-over-year fleet data regarding the adoption of environmental technologies and practices across more than 90 per cent of global oceangoing cruises.
Read more about the report’s findings on CLIA’s website.