Our long-term goal is to achieve zero emissions across all operations, at sea and ashore. MSC Cruises is making significant investments into improving air quality. As part of a broader approach to limit sulphur and other emissions in ports and in specific operating areas, we are taking various steps to improve our performance. 

• Today: 11 of 17 MSC Cruises ships will be equipped with exhaust gas cleaning systems (EGCS) to reduce sulphur from ship emissions by 97 per cent through a system which can be operated in closed-loop, representing 74% of our total berths. 

• By the end of 2023: 100 per cent of the MSC Cruises fleet ships will be equipped with EGCS. 

• MSC Grandiosa is also our first to have a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system, which helps reducing nitrogen oxide (NOx) from the ship exhaust and transforms it into harmless nitrogen (N2) and water, through advanced active emissions control technology. SCR will be on all future ships. And will be retrofitted where possible on our longer-serving ships.

• All MSC Cruises ships which have come into service since 2017 are fitted with shore-to-ship power so they are fully ready to connect to a local electrical power grid in order to reduce emissions while at berth in port. 

Tangible benefits in all walks of life can be achieved through smart and efficient means of being proficient in the use of energy. From the first line we draw on paper when we design a new ship, to the final light bulb we install, energy efficiency is always the first element we take into consideration. 

• We have one of the most modern fleets of cruise ships at sea and have designed and developed six different ship classes. Every class always pushes the level of excellence of the earlier ship. 

• The hulls of our ships are coated with special environmentally-friendly paints which impedes the growth of barnacles, algae and marine organisms to reduce drag significantly. 

• A software application to monitor and optimise trim, the ship’s stability, in real time. This technology supports ship officers to keep the vessel’s trim optimised to reduce fuel consumption. 

• All ships have smart heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems (HVAC). Two high and low-heat recovery loops to redistribute heat and cold intelligently from the laundry room and machinery spaces to warm up the swimming pools and other parts of the ship. 

• Ships only use energy efficient LED and florescent lighting. 

• Compared to our earlier Fantasia ship class which entered service between 2008-2013, our latest ship MSC Grandiosa requires 28 per cent less fuel per passenger, which represents a reduction of 255kg less carbon dioxide per passenger, per cruise.

We take as many steps as possible to reduce our water consumption. From technologies to reduce water usage, to awareness campaigns on board our ships to encourage responsible water consumption, MSC Cruises leads the way with water preservation. 

• As a general rule, we do not take away water from ports and costal communities. Virtually all of the fresh water that we use on board – to drink, prepare food, do the laundry or operate the shop – is self-produced. 

Fresh Water Production Plants are present across our entire fleet and can transform up to three million litres of seawater into drinking water in one day.

All black wastewater, sewage, is treated on board ships and our practices go above regulatory requirements. No black wastewater leaves any ship without proper treatment and purification. 

• MSC Cruises in 2008 to started equip ships with state-of-the-art Advanced Wastewater Treatment Systems (AWTS) that purify used wastewater to near tap-water quality before releasing it in the sea. 

• When the treated wastewater is released, it reaches a very high quality and the end product is of a better standard than most shoreside municipal waste standards around the world. 

• Cooking oil, oily water and cleaning products are never discharged into the sea but offloaded ashore.

Our environmental efforts are an ongoing journey. We will keep exploring and developing new solutions for our future ships as well as existing ships and will equip our fleet with even more innovative solutions for a lower environmental impact. 

• We will power some of our future ships with Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). Compared to standard marine diesel using conventional fuel, LNG reduces sulphur oxide emissions by more than 99 per cent and nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 85 per cent. It also largely eliminates particulate matter in the exhaust systems and further reduces CO2 emissions by 20% versus existing maritime fuel. 

• Our first LNG-powered ship, MSC Europa, will enter into service in 2022. Others will follow in 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2027. We are on a continuous path to explore all possible future clean and leading-edge technologies and are actively studying their viability with our potential suppliers.

• This island in The Bahamas is founded on strong environmental principles and illustrates MSC Cruises’ forward-thinking and committed approach to developing cruise eco-tourism. 

• We have worked with environmental experts to restore the island, establish 64 square miles protected water around the island, and to restore the coral and marine ecosystem. 

• We planted 4,600 trees and palms across the island, totalling more than 75,000 plants and shrubs to help populate the island with native flora and improve its biodiversity with 95 per cent of the plant types native to the Caribbean. 

• The island houses a range of eco-friendly features (e.g. solar panels, a closed-loop wastewater system, electric transportation carts), and various measures (e.g. biodegradable beauty products, no single-use plastics aim) aim at minimising its overall environmental impact.