MSC’s Cruise Brands Join Green Marine Europe Label

MSC’s Cruise Brands Join Green Marine Europe Label

MSC Group’s cruise division has announced that it had become the first major global cruise company to join the Green Marine Europe Label.

According to a press release, Green Marine Europe Label is a voluntary environmental certification program for the maritime industry that was launched in 2020 to “create a mechanism to support shipowners in demonstrating their environmental performance on a European scale.” It follows the success of Green Marine’s North American environmental certification program, MSC said.

MSC Group said that it has pledged to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and its two brands, MSC Cruises and Explora Journeys, are “committed to measuring their environmental performance annually.”

The cruise brands are using the Green Marine Europe Label’s program guidelines to track progress across eight key performance indicators: aquatic invasive species, pollutant air emissions – sulfur oxides and particulate matter -, pollutant air emissions – nitrogen oxides -, greenhouse gas emissions, oily discharge, waste management, underwater noise and responsible ship recycling.

MSC Grandiosa class photo credit Spacejunkie2

The two brands have committed to submit their annual environmental performance results to an external accredited verification party and publish them.

“Even while we tackled the many challenges of the past two years, we never lost sight of our responsibilities in the long term. In line with our commitment to sustainability and our pledge to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, the Green Marine Europe Label will help us demonstrate our progress and share this with our guests, the communities that we serve and all other stakeholders. All of this, while we continue our work on several projects studying the development of green fuels and technology solutions and we look forward to bringing them to life soonest,” Executive Chairman of the Cruise Division of MSC Group, Pierfrancesco Vago, said.

‘’Certification to the Green Marine Europe Label across our entire fleet will further demonstrate our commitment to environmental sustainability as it also reflects our desire to continually improve our performance in that space,” MSC Cruise Management’s Vice President Environmental Operations and Compliance Minas Myrtidis added.

According to the press release, the Green Marine Europe Label is the result of a partnership of the North American environmental certification program Green Marine, which has been operational for 10 years, and the Surfrider Foundation, a leading NGO in the ocean and maritime protection in the European Union.

The partnership was established in 2019, and the program was launched in the spring of 2020.

MSC said that in recent years it has made considerable advances across all areas of its cruise operations thanks to the deployment of some art environmental technologies, fuels and solutions. These include advanced emissions control systems, ballast water treatment systems and advanced wastewater treatment systems.

The first two vessels of Explora Journeys, which are currently under construction, will feature these and other environmental solutions.

MSC, Fincantieri and Snam Partner for ‘World’s First Oceangoing Hydrogen-Powered Cruise Ship’

MSC Cruises, Fincantieri and Snam have announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly determine the conditions for the design and construction of what would become the world’s first oceangoing hydrogen-powered cruise ship.

According to a press release, MSC Group, Fincantieri and Snam have joined forces to initially carry out a study that will assess the feasibility of designing and building “the world’s first ocean-going cruise ship powered by hydrogen.” MSC Group said that the ship would allow zero-emissions operations in certain areas and the development of the related hydrogen bunkering infrastructure.

Green hydrogen can be produced without fossil fuels, using renewable energy to split water in a process called electrolysis and can therefore be emissions-free on a full lifecycle basis, MSC said. It can be used to generate electrical power through a fuel cell, emitting only water vapour and heat. This type of ‘green’ hydrogen holds great potential to contribute to the decarbonization of the shipping industry, including cruising, whether in its pure form or as a hydrogen-derived fuel.

“As a company that has long made environmental sustainability its focus, we want to put ourselves at the forefront of the energy revolution for our sector and hydrogen can greatly contribute to this. However, today production levels remain low and hydrogen fuel is still far from being available at scale. With this project, we’re taking the lead to bring this promising technology to our fleet and the industry while sending the strongest possible signal to the market about how seriously we take our environmental commitments. As we advance with the development of the maritime technology required, we will also see that energy providers take note and ramp up production to unlock this and that governments and the public sector step in to provide the necessary support for a project that is critical to the decarbonization of cruising and shipping,” said MSC Group’s Executive Chairman of the Cruise Division, Pierfrancesco Vago.

The CEO of shipbuilding group Fincantieri, Giuseppe Bono, said that “every opportunity for new solutions and technologies is a source of growth for us.”

“This one allows us to offer our customers the best of innovation to help minimize the environmental impact,” he noted.

The CEO of international energy infrastructure operator Snam, Marco Alverà, said that the company was “strongly committed” to concrete initiatives for sustainable heavy transport – on the road, rail and by the sea – promoting the use of renewable gases such hydrogen and bio LNG.

“This agreement for us is part of a wider strategy to leverage on our experience, competencies and technologies in green gases and energy efficiency in order to contribute to the full decarbonization of the shipping value chain, including ports and logistics, which will be increasingly crucial in our economies,” Alverà explained.

“Hydrogen could be a key enabler in achieving the target of net-zero emissions in shipping, accounting for approximately 3 per cent of global CO2 emissions, as well as in all the hard to abate sectors,” he added.

As per the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding, during the next 12 months, the three companies will study key factors related to the development of oceangoing hydrogen-powered cruise ships.

These include arranging ship spaces to accommodate H2 technologies and fuel cells, technical parameters of onboard systems, calculating the potential greenhouse gas emissions savings, and technical and economic analysis of hydrogen supply and infrastructure.

MSC Cruises said that it was committed to achieving net carbon neutral operations by 2050.

“To accomplish this objective, the company is working in partnership with a wide range of shipyards, suppliers, manufacturers and other organizations as well as investing in different upcoming technologies and solutions for its fleet,” MSC Group wrote. “The implementation of the cooperation above described will possibly be an object of future binding agreements to be discussed by the parties in relation thereto.”

Cruise lines set up relief funds for Philippines

By Tom Stieghorst

Several cruise lines have organized relief efforts for victims of Typhoon Haiyan, which swept through the Philippines.

The Philippines is home to tens of thousands of cruise ship workers.

Costa Cruises said it has set up a $100,000 fund to support employees and families, and is planning a charitable donation as well.

A spokeswoman for CLIA said that Holland America Line has made donations to the Red Cross. Other cruise lines in the Carnival Corp. family also will be sending donations.

A Royal Caribbean spokesman said that company is working on a disaster relief plan, the details of which may be announced late Monday.

MSC, which also has Filipino workers on its vast fleet of container ships, is organizing relief efforts at its Geneva headquarters.

Norwegian Cruise Line has set up a relief fund and is collecting donations throughout the company and across the fleet. Guests onboard can contribute at the guest services desk, while past guests can mail a donation to corporate headquarters in Miami.

Norwegian said it has been in contact with its partners in Manila, who are actively reaching out to contact crew members and their families located around Manila and outlying provinces.

"Crew members onboard are being supported to help make contact with their families and we are making arrangements for those who need to return home to do so,” a Norwegian statement said.