CLIA – SEA Europe Urge EU to Include Cruise Ship Building in Net Zero Act

Photo source: Royal Carribean.

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) and SEA Europe called on the EU this week to include cruise ship building in the forthcoming Net Zero Industry Act.

Cruise lines, shipyards and marine equipment manufacturers have issued a joint declaration in this direction calling on the European Commission and European governments to include cruise ship building and the maritime technology sector in the act.

The declaration demonstrates how Europe can lead the way in technology development and maritime excellence while benefiting from the significant economic boost.

Greece was among the European economies that benefited from cruise travel in 2021 marking for the first time an economic impact greater than 1.1 billion euros compared to 957 million euros in 2019.

Photo source: Piraeus Port Authority

CLIA attributes the positive performance to Greece’s leading role in the fast and safe resumption of cruising as well as to the significant increase of home porting, which brings major economic benefits through increased demand for cruise passenger accommodation, air travel, fuel, ship maintenance and supply services.

This increase was also due to the stay of cruise ships in Greek ports for technical works. CLIA added that more than 15,100 jobs were supported in 2021 in Greece by the cruise industry.

“Greece’s proactive stance in safely and promptly restarting cruises during the pandemic has clearly brought the country to the front line internationally and gives a significant opportunity to optimize its position on the global cruise map,” said CLIA Director Eastern Mediterranean Maria Deligianni.

Deligianni went on to add that Greece should now further develop cruising and home porting activities, “as long as the investments in port infrastructure and the coordination of activities at destinations continue, so that the development takes place in a sustainable way“.

Photo source: UNWTO

More specifically, the joint declaration announced at CLIA’s 2023 European Summit hosted in Paris this week calls for:

-faster access to funding for sustainable shipbuilding and maritime equipment manufacturing to support Europe’s world-leading position in this sector

-expansion of support and incentives for retrofit programs and deployment of renewable energy for maritime

-a dedicated maritime program as part of the EU Pact for Skills so that digital, green, and technical skills stay in Europe

-maritime to be placed at the heart of the EU digital strategy to enable knowledge-share of the sector’s advanced digitalization practices

“Cruise lines don’t just provide one of the most popular holiday options for consumers today, but they are also already partnering with shipyards and maritime technology providers to achieve net zero cruising by 2050,” said CLIA Chairman Pierfrancesco Vago.

CLIA Chairman Pierfrancesco Vago. Photo source: MSC Cruises

“Pilot projects are underway to test new fuels and propulsion solutions such as batteries, fuel cell technology, advanced biofuels, and synthetic fuels. It is now time for European policy makers and governments to partner with the maritime technology sector. Europe has an opportunity to lead the way in technology development and maritime excellence for the benefit of future generations.”

According to CLIA data, cruise travel is one of the fastest-growing tourism sectors set to exceed 2019 levels with an estimated passenger volume of 27 million to 33 million ocean-going guests globally in 2023 compared to 29.7 million in 2019.