Cruise ranking: Norwegian ships are the cleanest

2023-06-28 15:30:37

Hamburg cruise ranking

Norwegian ships are the cleanest

Status: 28.06.2023 | Reading time: 3 minutes

A ship is supplied with energy at the shore power plant in Altona

Quelle: picture alliance/dpa

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According to Nabu, Norwegian cruise ships are becoming pioneers in climate and environmental protection, while German providers are much slower. The shore power system in Hamburg has so far only been used by a minority of ships.

According to the Naturschutzbund Deutschland (Nabu), rising greenhouse gas emissions and severe air pollution continue to be the biggest problems in the cruise industry. This is confirmed by this year’s cruise ranking, which Nabu presented in Hamburg on Wednesday. However, there are promising announcements that give hope for environmentally friendly cruise shipping, it said. The Norwegian providers Havilla and Hurtigruten made the greatest progress in reducing emissions. With 9 out of 14 possible points in the ranking, however, even the frontrunners are clearly a long way from a cruise with a clear conscience.

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Offers, insurance, extras

According to Nabu, the providers Hapag-Loyd Cruises, Marella and Carnival are at the bottom of the cruise rankings for 2023. Phoenix Reisen and Viking Ocean Cruises did not provide any information. “It seems outdated that the majority of large ships continue to operate with the particularly toxic but cheap heavy fuel oil. The industry must finally complete the exit,” said Nabu Federal Managing Director Leif Miller.

There are still big differences between the shipping companies, but also within the fleets of the companies. In particular, many existing ships would hardly be cleaner. This also applies to German brands such as AIDA and TUI. Improvements would be implemented almost exclusively on new ships.

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According to Nabu, Norwegian cruise ships are becoming pioneers in climate and environmental protection. In addition to technical solutions, ambitious and clear political regulation in Norway is responsible. A surge in innovation was triggered by strict requirements. The result could soon be climate-neutral cruises based on shore power, batteries and e-fuels based on green hydrogen. For cruise ships, green methanol in particular offers an opportunity for climate-neutral operation. TUI Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Lines have ordered ships that rely on this option.

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“It is very welcome that the first have finally found a way towards climate neutrality. Now the pace has to pick up and many imitators have to be found,” said Nabu shipping expert Sönke Diesener. In order to play its part in achieving the Paris climate goals, the industry must drastically reduce emissions in the short term. In fact, however, they continue to rise. Of particular concern is the sharp increase in methane emissions from LNG use. “These are more than 80 times more harmful to the climate than CO2,” says Diesener. In addition to LNG, biofuels are also not expedient.

More shore power terminals soon

A third of the cruise ships equipped accordingly obtained their energy during their stay in the Port of Hamburg this year via the Altona shore power plant. There were a total of eight supplies, said a spokeswoman for the port administration HPA. The other two cruise terminals – Steinwerder and Hafencity – are to be supplied with shore power in autumn and spring 2025 respectively.

Shore power is considered an important component on the way to climate neutrality in shipping and for cleaner air at port locations. So far, many seagoing vessels have kept their engines running in port to supply themselves with electricity – with the corresponding exhaust gases and CO2 emissions. According to the industry association Clia, emissions in the port alone can “make up between 6 and 10 percent of a cruise ship’s total CO2 emissions”.

“Important step for the decarbonisation of the port”

“We will start test operations at the container terminals in the next few months,” said the spokeswoman. Hamburg will then be the first port in Europe to offer shore power supply for both cruise ships and large container ships. “This is an important step towards the decarbonisation of the port, with which Hamburg will be many years ahead of the planned EU regulation to reduce CO2 emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.”

The environmental protection organization Nabu presented this year’s cruise ranking on Wednesday. Now in its eleventh edition, Nabu examines the question of whether cruise lines can position themselves as pioneers for sustainable shipping despite increasing passenger numbers and the associated greater burden on the climate and environment.