13 MSC Euribia successfully sailed the world’s first net-zero greenhouse gas emissions cruise between France and Denmark ensure everyone plays a role in helping us achieve our net-zero goals.” The company’s 2023 sustainability report shows that these efforts are paying off. It reduced the carbon intensity of its fleet by 6.5 per cent in 2023, and has cumulatively decreased it by 37.8 per cent since 2008. This puts the company on track to achieve the IMO’s 40 per cent reduction target ahead of the 2030 deadline. In addition, efficiency improvements have cut onboard water consumption from 226 litres per guest day to 187 litres in 2023, a fall of 17.2 per cent. Desalination systems also produced more than 6.4 million cubic metres of water in 2023, meeting 87.2 per cent of the fleet’s onboard water needs. Now, MSC Cruises is beginning to scrutinise ship interiors in the same way, aiming to eventually move to a circular design model. “We’re already working with our shipyards, suppliers and subcontractors to calculate the carbon footprint of the items we use for the interiors of our vessels and taking this into account when sourcing the most environmentally sustainable options,” says Vago. “For example, MSC Euribia has recyclable carpets and signage made from recycled material. We plan to increase these efforts in future.” The company is also one of several hundred signatories of the Sustainable Maritime Interiors (SMI) Declaration, which was launched in May 2023 to help drive sustainability improvements throughout the ship interior lifecycle. The declaration, which was created in full support of the UN Global Compact’s Ten Principles, outlines seven commitments to champion environmental change and inspire other stakeholders to build and maintain more sustainable ship interiors. “We applaud Cruise & Ferry’s [executive editor] Jon Ingleton who was the driving force behind the initiative,” says Vago. “We join him in relentlessly championing the need for circular design in the passenger ship interiors industry and encourage other industry stakeholders to sign too.” MSC Cruises hopes to further decrease itinerary-related emissions in future, using the new OptiCruise itinerary planning tool developed in collaboration with OPTIMeasy, a research company affiliated with the University of Genoa in Italy. The tool was trialled for 12 months onboard MSC Bellissima as it sailed between 17 Mediterranean ports. It calculates the optimal itinerary by analysing factors such as the sequence of port calls, departure and arrival times, the ship’s speed, the appeal of destinations and available shore excursions, and port charges and other operational costs. “The OPTIMeasy team calculates that we can decrease fuel use and emissions by an average of 10 to 15 per cent using OptiCruise, so it will play a vital role in our decarbonisation strategy,” says Vago. MSC Cruises will also continue to call at ports offering shore power capabilities, after installing the systems in 16 of its 22 existing ships. “In 2023, our ships made 44 shore power connections at eight ports in Norway, Germany, the UK and Malta, and we aim to make 220 connections by the end of 2024,” says Vago. “We will be installing shore power on our remaining fleet and any future newbuilds too. The challenge is that only a small percentage of ports in the world currently have the infrastructure to provide shoreside electricity to cruise ships, so there’s a lot of work to be done before we will see a meaningful impact on decarbonisation but we are now starting to see progress onshore.” Determined to lead the way, MSC Cruises will equip its new 11,670-squaremetre cruise terminal in Barcelona, Spain, with both shore power and LNG KEYNOTE Photo: MSC Cruises
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