Today’s biggest cruise ships are twice as big as they were in 2000, a new Transport & Environment (T&E) report shows. If the ships continue to grow at this rate, the biggest cruise ships in 2050 could amount to a staggering 345,000 gross tonnage, making them almost eight times bigger than the Titanic.

The rapid growth in cruise holidays and increase in cruise ship sizes comes at a significant environmental cost, says T&E, which calls on cruise liners to invest in green technologies to reduce their impact on the planet and local air pollution.

The global cruise industry has boomed over the past half a century, with the number of ships rising twentyfold from only 21 in 1970 to 515 today. A combination of more and bigger cruise ships means that cO₂ emissions from cruise ships in Europe were nearly 20% higher in 2022 than they were in 2019 before the pandemic.

In January 2024, the world’s largest cruise ship to date, the Icon of the Seas, was launched. The floating city contains 40 restaurants, 7 swimming pools and can carry 7600 passengers. It is longer than 15 blue whales and is five times bigger than the Titanic.

In the face of backlash, many cruise operators are switching to liquefied natural gas (LNG) as an alternative to traditional shipping fuels such as heavy fuel oil. LNG-powered ships make up 38% of global cruise ship orders today.

While LNG emits less pollutants and CO₂ when burned, it releases methane, a greenhouse gas more than 80 times more potent than CO₂. Methane slips from LNG engines can make these ships more harmful to the climate than traditional shipping fuels, according to T&E.

The only green and scalable solution for decarbonising maritime activities is e-fuels. Cruising is a luxury business and operators must take responsibility for their climate impact.

—Inesa Ulichina, sustainable shipping officer at T&E

Green e-fuels could power almost 4% of European shipping in 2030, a recent T&E study shows. The limited availability of e-fuels and their bunkering infrastructure should be less of an issue for the cruise ships, says T&E, as they sail on the same routes with clear schedules, making their fuel refueling needs and timings predictable and relatively easy to plan.

It can also be financially beneficial for cruise operators to switch to green fuels, the latest study shows. Due to the EU’s carbon price on ships which took effect from the beginning of this year, and progressively increasing FuelEU Maritime penalties for using the dirtiest shipping fuels from 2025, sailing only on fossil fuel will become 13% more expensive than blending 4% of e-methanol into the fuel mix in 2030. The cost increase when sailing on fossil fuel compared to blending e-fuels could reach more than 30% in 2040 and over 80% in 2050.

Cruise ships are currently exempt from fuel duties, corporate taxes and most of the consumer taxes that other modes of transport are subject to. A €50 ticket tax on a typical cruise ticket would bring in €1.6 billion globally, according to the analysis. This could provide crucial climate finance and ensure that luxury forms of travel are taxed, says T&E.