In the report, Nature And Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU), calls for the abandonment of toxic heavy fuel oil, the development of an individual climate strategy and the use of shore power must be implemented in the next three years.
“Shore power enables the use of renewable energies when operating the ships. But the provision of the infrastructure in the ports alone is not enough,” said Malte Siegert, NABU port expert at NABU Hamburg.
“The shipowners have to show that they mean business by retrofitting their ships with the appropriate connections and undertaking to buy the green electricity.”
Climate goals
Mr Siegert said that an EU-wide shore power obligation would drive the development that is absolutely necessary and give the port cities security for the investments to be made.
NABU asserts that the first emission-free ship must go into operation by 2030 and a zero-emission standard must apply to all new buildings. It said that leaves 20 years to be able to drive completely emission-free by the middle of the century.
But the organisation warns that the cruise industry is far away from meeting the requirements of the Paris climate goals, that’s according to its latest cruise ranking report.
A survey of the 18 largest providers on the European market showed that hardly any shipping company currently has a specific strategy to transform the fleet towards emission-free operation.
