Complaint against advertisements for ‘sustainable’ cruises: ‘That doesn’t exist’ | climate

“A responsible way to sail into the future”, “a sustainable cruise”, “love for the planet and respect for the oceans”. These are a selection of the claims made by MSC Cruises that are unacceptable according to the environmental groups Fossil Free and Advertising Hunters.

The cruise company bases its advertisements on the fact that a number of ships now run on liquefied natural gas (LNG) instead of fuel oil. This mainly results in less local environmental pollution, because less sulfur is released into the air. These sulfur particles can cause a lot of damage to health near cruise ports where ships are moored.

The climate benefit is less clear. According to MSC Cruises, the use of LNG reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent, but environmental groups dispute this. They state that MSC is based on incorrect research. For example, it paints an overly favorable picture of the amount of gas that escapes unburned from the ship’s engine, the environmental groups believe. The methane released there acts as a very strong greenhouse gas.

In any case, the emissions from a cruise ship remain significant, even if it is powered by LNG. MSC “attempts to give consumers the impression that a sustainable way to cruise travel exists, when this is not the case,” the complaint against the company says.

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“The cruise industry is an extremely fast-growing sector and LNG plays an important role in the greenwashing that is now taking place there,” Eric Stam of Reclamejagers told NU.nl.

According to him, it is in any case unacceptable for companies to present a cruise holiday as a sustainable activity. “The climate impact of a cruise holiday is even greater than a flight holiday,” he says.

According to Milieu Centraal, a sea cruise produces almost 200 kilos of CO2 emissions per passenger per day, comparable to driving 1,500 kilometers in a petrol car. A cruise is often combined with one or more flights, making the climate impact even greater.

Both the Advertising Code Committee and the Dutch court previously decided that airlines such as KLM are not allowed to advertise ‘sustainable’ flying holidays. The same should apply to cruise companies, says Stam. “It is a very polluting sector that has so far avoided the consequences.”

MSC Cruises’ 21 ships produce more than 2 million tonnes of CO2 emissions annually, according to the company’s latest sustainability report. That is almost as much as came out of the chimney of the largest Dutch coal-fired power station last year.

Due to expected growth, MSC Cruises’ emissions will continue to rise in the coming years, although emissions per trip made will decrease.

A spokesperson for the cruise line was not yet able to comment substantively on Monday. He says MSC is still studying the complaint.