2024 Sustainability Report Published by MSC Cruises

An MSC cruise ship at sea
Environment Cruise Industry
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Updated Published

MSC Cruises has published its 2023 Sustainability Report, which reviews the company's performance over the past year in the areas of environment, social responsibility, and governance.

The report also covers information on MSC Cruises’ sister company, Explora Journeys, and includes detailed data tables on operations, emissions, water usage, waste management, headcount, and gender distribution.

Pierfrancesco Vago, executive chairman of MSC Group’s Cruise Division, stated: “We began publishing an annual Sustainability Report in 2019, making this our fifth report. During that time, our commitment to reaching our goals remains as strong as ever. Our approach to environmental, social, and governance issues has become more sophisticated as we have employed more ways to manage our activities in a more dynamic manner. This reflects our passion to not just align with stakeholder expectations and navigate a complex regulatory landscape, but to make meaningful measurable changes that have a long-term positive impact on our guests, our employees and our planet.

“We remain fully committed to our goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 in line with the International Maritime Organization’s strategy but achieving net zero emissions cannot be done alone. We continue to work extensively with our close partners including the shipyards, technology providers, fuel providers and many others and I am pleased with the progress we as an industry are making. We continue to advocate to be regulated in a fair way, which does not discriminate against our industry.”

Key highlights from the report include:

  • A 6.5 percent improvement in fleet carbon intensity compared to 2022.
  • The launch of MSC Euribia, the second liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered ship, which achieved a net zero greenhouse gas emissions voyage from France to Denmark.
  • A total of 44 successful shore power connections at eight ports in Norway, Germany, the UK, and Malta.
  • Freshwater management efforts produced 87.2 percent of the fleet’s onboard water needs—over 6.4 million cubic meters—through desalination. This led to a reduction in onboard water consumption from 226 liters per guest day in 2022 to 187 liters in 2023, a decrease of 17.2 percent.
  • Collaboration with NatureMetrics, specialists in nature intelligence and environmental DNA, to analyze seawater samples from three vessels, identifying over 4,000 different animal species using DNA identification techniques.

Additionally, the report notes that in 2023, MSC Cruises’ fleet of 22 ships hosted 4,081,393 guests, completed 385 itineraries across 102 countries, and offered 2,150 shore excursions.