FORT LAUDERDALE -- With more than 60 new cruise ships on the order books and slated to debut over the next few years, cruise lines are facing pressure from environmental authorities in Europe to make advances in sustainability.
For years, cruise lines addressed that challenge in part by powering new ships with liquefied natural gas (LNG), which is widely considered a cleaner option than marine gas oil.
But not by Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH), which opted against powering the Norwegian Prima and Norwegian Viva with LNG.
From the CruiseWorld stage earlier this month, NCLH CEO Harry Sommer said not using LNG was intentional.
"When we looked at the technology, we didn't find that LNG actually reduces emissions," Sommer said. "Yes, it reduces carbon, but it releases much more methane, which unfortunately is worse than carbon for the environment. We didn't look at that trade-off as being one worthwhile to undertake, especially as we saw better things coming."
Instead, NCLH has trialed biofuels on at least 20% of its fleet in hopes it can be used as a transition fuel while exploring the viability of green methanol. The final two ships in the Prima class, due out in 2027 and 2028, will be made "methanol-ready" with the dual capacity to run on diesel and green methanol.
CLIA has put pressure on the industry to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. An affordable clean-fuel source available at scale is the key to reaching that goal, said Jason Liberty, CEO of Royal Caribbean Group.
"There is endless investment I know we're doing, the industry is doing, to try to advance technology to lower our emissions," Liberty said at CruiseWorld. "But the reality of it is, we need the fuel sources to be available to us as soon as possible."
Until those cleaner fuel sources are widely available, cruise ships are being designed to handle multiple fuels to bridge the transition from one type to another.
Jerry Limone contributed to this report.