Environmental group warns cruise ship size has doubled since 2000

CNN
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Cruise ships have doubled in size over the past two decades, a precedent that could lead to even larger ships plying our oceans in the future and bringing potential problems. A new report warns.

Today’s largest passenger ships are twice the size they were in 2000, according to a study by European clean energy lobby group Transport & Environment (T&E), which warns of the environmental impact of the “rapidly” growing global cruise industry.

The report suggests that the largest cruise ships sailing in 2050 could be about eight times larger than the Titanic, the largest passenger ship in service when it set sail in 1912 (269 metres, or about 883 feet, long), if growth continues at the current rate.

“Today’s cruises make the Titanic look like a small fishing boat,” Inessa Olechina, T&E’s head of sustainable shipping, said in a statement.

“How far can these giants go? The cruise industry is the fastest growing tourism sector, and its emissions are quickly spiraling out of control.

The group said in a statement that the Cruise Lines International Association, the largest trade association for the cruise industry, objects to “multiple claims in the report that are at odds with verified data.”

“Particularly the size of the ships (mostly small to medium-sized) and the emissions data published in the EU MRV database, which shows that cruise lines have reduced emissions by an average of 16% per ship over the past five years.”

The number of cruise ships has increased 20-fold from 21 in 1970 to 515 today, according to T&E.

When launched in 1999, Royal Caribbean’s Voyager of the Seas, at 137,276 gross tons, was the largest cruise ship in the world.

The 1,198-foot Icon of the Seas, which features seven pools and a record-breaking 17,000-square-foot water park, will become the world’s largest cruise ship — at 248,663 gross tons — when it launches in January 2024.

But the speed at which the cruise industry has boomed in recent years has come at a price, T&E says in its report.

He points out that CO2 emissions from cruise ships in Europe were nearly 20% higher in 2022 compared to 2019.

Cruise ships and other maritime vessels are believed to be responsible for about 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions each year, according to the International Maritime Organization.

While cruise ships are exempt from fuel surcharges, along with most corporate and consumer taxes, at present, the report suggests that a potential tax of €50 (about $54) on a “typical cruise ticket” could bring in €1.6 billion (about $1.75 billion) globally.

“The majority (60%) of all cruise ships sailing today – and scheduled to be in service well into the next decade – are small to medium-sized vessels and are part of a much larger global fleet that is more energy efficient than ever before,” CLIA added in its statement.

CLIA has committed its members to: Achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The industry plans to achieve this goal, it says, by “increasingly using more sustainable fuels as they become available as well as investing billions in ships with advanced technologies that will make them the most environmentally focused ships in history – and that’s regardless of ship size.”

CNN has reached out to Royal Caribbean Group for comment.