MSC Cruises has become the first major cruise line to receive the Green Marine Europe Certification, a voluntary environmental certification for the maritime industry.
According to a statement from MSC, Green Marine Europe is a partnership between the North American environmental certification program Green Marine and the Surfrider Foundation, a European Union non-governmental organization (NGO) focused on ocean and maritime protection.
MSC Cruises announced on 18OCT that it achieved the highest possible score across eight performance indicators that represented ‘environmental excellence and leadership.’ These performance indicators include aquatic invasive species, pollutant air emissions (including nitrogen dioxide), and greenhouse gas emissions.
Captain Minas Myrtidis, MSC Cruises’ VP of Environmental Operations and Compliance, accepted the award on behalf of the line at a ceremony in Bilbao, Spain.
In his acceptance speech, Captain Myrtidis remarked, “The Green Marine Europe certificate is a testament to the hard work and commitment of everyone throughout our business, both onboard and ashore, who have dedicated their collective efforts to help MSC Cruises towards achieving its sustainability goals."
MSC Cruises and its sister company, Explora Journeys, have committed to measuring their environmental performance annually and submitting their results to Green Marine Europe for its external accredited verification. Both lines have set targets to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
MSC noted that its emissions have decreased by 33.5% since 2008, and the Company is confident it will achieve a 40% reduction by 2030.
As Open Jaw reported in JUN 2023, MSC Cruises has released details of the next phase of its shore power plan. The plan will see the addition of at least 15 new ports between 2024 and 2026, allowing vessels to connect to shoreside electricity grids.
Launched in JUN 2023, MSC Euribia achieved the world’s first net-zero greenhouse gas emissions cruise ship voyage from France to Denmark. Open Jaw was invited onboard the MSC Euribia in SEP 2023.
All Explora Journeys’ ships will also feature shore power capabilities.
More information on MSC Cruises' website.
