Sinking feeling: cruise ships chart return to Australia amid emissions concerns

It would be a significant engineering milestone for an industry that contributes an unknown but not trivial amount to the 940m tonnes of CO2 generated by marine transport each year, or roughly 2.5% of global emissions.

The chief executive of Northern Xplorer, Rolf Sandvik, says the vessel will be entirely sustainable and emissions-free on the day it leaves the dock.

The Norwegian government has limited the number of calls that can be made to world heritage-protected fjords and imposed zero-emissions requirements on vessels that do so from 2026.

The scale of this return has raised questions about sustainability and whether an opportunity has been missed to transition to a zero-carbon industry.

During the downtime, authorities in some places have worked to resolve pressing environmental problems.

In March, the Port Authority of NSW announced it would install a $60m ship-to-shore power system at the White Bay terminal in Sydney Harbour, after a 10-year campaign by residents against the fumes created by idling ships.

Hooking cruise ships up to a power source on land while they are docked means they do not have to run auxiliary engines to keep their electrical systems running.

The system will be operational by 2024 and is expected to be powered entirely by renewable energy, which the Port Authority predicts will stop 14,000 tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere every year.

But other communities are not as sanguine about the return of the industry.

Penny Davidson, from the Jervis Bay Community Cruiseship Coalition on the NSW south coast, says residents are still waiting to find out whether the pristine bay will be added as a destination.

With thousands of ships mothballed or retired around the world, the pandemic pause was a rare opportunity for change, says Prof Susanne Becken, who researches sustainable tourism at Griffith University.

The combination of cheap fuel and large passenger capacities has allowed companies to offer relatively low ticket prices, but Becken says the need to decarbonise will alter the underlying economics.

The managing director for Australasia of the Cruise Lines International Association (Clia), Joel Katz, says operators are already taking steps to end the use of low-grade bunker fuel.

As LNG is still a fossil fuel, Becken says even these vessels are at risk of becoming stranded assets as green hydrogen technology improves and the world introduces stricter emissions requirements.

She says the industry should following the example of airports and airlines that voluntarily disclose CO2 emissions.