By
Alex Smith |
MSC Cruises reduced its fleet carbon intensity by 6.5 per cent in 2023, according to the cruise line’s 2023 Sustainability Report.
The report is MSC’s fifth annual sustainability review, examining progress made in the areas of environment, social and governance over the 12-months of 2023. For the first time, the report also includes information on MSC Cruises’ sister brand, Explora Journeys, which launched its first ship Explora I in 2023. Also included are data tables covering operations, emissions, water, waste, headcount and gender distribution.
According to the report, the fall in 2023 means that MSC Cruises has reduced fleet carbon intensity by 37.8 per cent since 2008. This puts the cruise line on track to achieve the target set by the International Maritime Organization to reduce carbon intensity by 40 per cent before the 2030 deadline.
The report also highlights the launch of the cruise line’s second LNG-powered vessel, MSC Euribia, with a net zero greenhouse gas emissions voyage from France to Denmark. A total of 44 successful shore power connections were also made by MSC Cruises ships at eight ports in Norway, Germany, the UK and Malta, and the cruise line has set a target of making 220 connections by the end of 2024.
Desalination produced more than 6.4 million cubic metres of water in 2024, meeting 87.2 per cent of the fleet’s onboard water needs for the year. Improvements in efficiency also resulted in a reduction of onboard water consumption from 226 litres per guest day to 187 litres in 2023, a fall of 17.2 per cent.
MSC Cruises also collaborated with nature intelligence and environmental DNA specialists NatureMetrics to analyse seawater samples from three vessels, identifying more than 4,000 different animal species using DNA identification techniques. These results were made available to the scientific community, with the data contributing to the eBioAtlas, a global programme by NatureMetrics and The International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The report also shows that MSC’s fleet of 22 ships carried 4.08 million guests on 385 itineraries to 102 countries in the world during 2023, offering them 2,150 shore excursions. The cruise line employed a workforce of 49,874 people representing 144 different nationalities, with 18,866 crew hired during the year. A package of crew initiatives introduced in 2024 also resulted in increased salaries, more staff rotation and additional training.
“We began publishing an annual Sustainability Report in 2019, making this our fifth report,” said Pierfrancesco Vago, executive chairman of MSC Group’s cruise division. “During that time, our commitment to reaching our goals remains as strong as ever. Our approach to environmental, social, and governance issues has become more sophisticated as we have employed more ways to manage our activities in a more dynamic manner. This reflects our passion to not just align with stakeholder expectations and navigate a complex regulatory landscape, but to make meaningful measurable changes that have a long-term positive impact on our guests, our employees and our planet.”