Cruise ships have doubled in size within the past two decades, creating a new pattern of creation that will likely lead to even larger ships in the future. Environmentalists are warning this trend can bring a lot of issues in the future, according to reports from various research groups.
Within the past 20+ years, the size of cruise ships has doubled, creating a new industry standard that environmentalists are worried about. Bigger vessels taking over our oceans could bring a slew of potential problems that will impact the natural world.
According to a study performed by Transport and Environment (T&E), a European clean energy lobby group, the largest passenger vessels today are twice as large as they were in 2000. CNN reported that the study suggests at this rate, the biggest cruise ships in the year 2050 could be close to eight times larger than the Titanic.
The Titanic was the largest passenger ship in service when it set sail in 1912, measuring at about 883 feet.
“Today’s cruisezillas make the Titanic look like a small fishing boat,” Inesa Ulichina, sustainable shipping officer at T&E, said in a statement.
“How much bigger can these giants get? The cruise business is the fastest growing tourism sector and its emissions are quickly getting out of control.”
The largest cruise industry trade association, Cruise Lines International Association, released a statement in which they said “multiple claims in the report conflict with verified data.”
“Notably the size of ships (most are small- to mid-size) and the emissions data as published on the EU (MRV) database, which show that cruise lines have reduced emissions by 16% on average per ship over the past five years.”
Royal Caribbean has long been creating what becomes the largest cruise ships to set sail. In 1999 they launched the Voyager of the Seas as the biggest cruise ship in the world with a gross tonnage of 137,276.
In January 2024, the same cruise line launched their 1,198-foot-long Icon of the Seas, becoming the world’s biggest cruise ship, equipped with seven swimming pools, and a record-breaking 17,000-square-foot water park. Icon of the Seas has a gross tonnage of 248,663.
T&E stated that the number of cruise ships has “increased by 20-fold from 21 in 1970 to 515 today.”
“The speed at which the cruising industry has boomed in recent years has come at a price.”
T&E noted that CO2 emissions from cruise ships in Europe specifically were about 20% higher when compared to 2022.
“Cruise ships and other maritime vessels are thought to be responsible for nearly 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions each year,” according to the International Maritime Organization.
The report also pointed out that while cruise ships are exempt from fuel duties, like most corporate and consumer taxes, a possible $54 tax on a “typical cruise journey ticket” could bring in around $1.75 globally.
CLIA stated that “the majority (60%) of all cruise ships sailing today – and scheduled to be in service well into the next decade – are small- to- mid-size ships and are part of a global fleet that is more energy efficient than ever.”
CLIA has also committed its members to hitting net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
“[We plan to achieve this by] increasingly using more sustainable fuels as they become available in addition to investing billions in ships with cutting-edge technologies that make them the most environmentally focused ships in history — and that’s regardless of the size of the ship.”
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
