{"id":13049,"date":"2016-11-04T17:26:16","date_gmt":"2016-11-04T21:26:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/cruising-toward-a-cleaner-future\/"},"modified":"2016-11-04T17:26:16","modified_gmt":"2016-11-04T21:26:16","slug":"cruising-toward-a-cleaner-future","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/cruising-toward-a-cleaner-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Cruising Toward a Cleaner Future"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2012, a shocking report from the Washington Post stated that a cruise ship carrying 1,886 passengers traveling from Vancouver, B.C. to Alaska emits the same amount of sulfur dioxide and fine particulate as roughly 13 million cars in one day<\/em>\u00a0(1<\/a>).\u00a0\u00a0 Coupled with the cruise line industry\u2019s astounding growth in the tourism sector, climate change has been and will continue to be a significant influence in Carnival Corporation\u2019s business strategy.\u00a0 Though climate change has a resounding negative impact on most emissions heavy corporations, Carnival stands at an intersection of positive business growth fueled in part by climate change and increasing costs related to curbing its own emissions contribution.\u00a0 Specifically, newly opened cruise routes due to melting ice have fueled new business for Carnival and other cruise lines while hull improvements, exhaust cleaning, and operations shifts have contributed to considerable costs for the company.<\/p>\n

\"Juliet<\/a>
Source:<\/strong> Juliet Eilperin. \u201cCruise ship lines, Alaska officials question new air pollution limits,\u201d The Washington Post.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Short-term benefits that the cruise line industry has seen from global warming are the opening of new cruise routes like the Northwest Passage and new excursion opportunities in Alaska.\u00a0 One cruise line company, Crystal Cruises, offers a cruise route in excess of $22,000 per passenger that covers the Northwest Passage.\u00a0 The route, which the cruise line successfully completed in September 2016, is significant because the waters were previously unnavigable just 100 years ago (2<\/a>).\u00a0 The second Northwest voyage will take place again in 2017.\u00a0 For reference, booking a 1,300 square foot suite costs roughly $120,000.\u00a0 For Carnival Corporation specifically, climate change has resulted in adjusted routes that inch closer to the Northwest Passage but the company has yet to set sail in the risky waters.\u00a0 For cruise routes to Alaska, which Carnival has traveled for many decades, the cruise line is able to travel closer to large icebergs that once kept cruise ships at bay.\u00a0 These exciting opportunities continue to fuel the rapidly growing industry which is expected to grow 35% to $31 billion by 2020 (3<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Particular improvements have been made by Carnival Corporation to limit emissions, though some critics would say the efforts fall short of expectations.\u00a0 In 2012, Carnival committed to dedicating $400 million to investing in sulfur dioxide scrubbers that work to \u201cclean\u201d the exhaust from burning fuel.\u00a0 Carnival emerged as an industry leader integrating this technology in a maritime setting and subsequently met its 20% carbon equivalent reduction goal in 2015 (4<\/a>).\u00a0 It has also sought to increase overall fuel efficiency by using more hydrodynamic hull coating, installing more power efficient products within ships, and shifting operations in port to use more shore power facilities. However, a Friends of the Earth report from 2016 gave Carnival an \u201cC-\u201d for air pollution due to only having scrubbers installed only 40% of its fleet, and for failing to install shore power cables on all ships (5<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Going forward, Carnival will likely continue to develop new engine technology, shift to solar energy to power some components, and install shore power capabilities on its entire fleet.\u00a0 The previous steps to make the ships more streamlined are marginal improvements and the exhaust scrubbing, while revolutionary, attacks the symptom more than the source of the problem.\u00a0 Carnival cruise improvements going forward should include a focus on solar energy to power certain passenger amenities.\u00a0 Future hulls should also be redesigned to minimize wind resistance, especially since newer ships tend to be much larger in order to increase passenger capacity.\u00a0 One advancement mentioned in Carnival\u2019s 2015 Sustainability Report is the use of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).\u00a0 According to the report, LNG will result in zero sulfur dioxide emissions and a 25% reduction in carbon emissions (6<\/a>).\u00a0 On top of the emission reductions, Carnival will also benefit from the low prices of LNG compared to marine fuel (7<\/a>).\u00a0 The implications of the new fuel on long term operations could be significant, however, as LNG requires longer tanks, different support facilities in port, and potentially shorter time periods between port stops.<\/p>\n

Although Carnival is cruising toward a cleaner future, one contradictory improvement with Carnival\u2019s sustainability drive is the fact that it continues to build bigger vessels.\u00a0 Although these include efficient advancements, the inherent inefficiency of these giant vessels seem contrary to a sustainable effort.\u00a0 The two newest ships added to the fleet will arrive starting in 2020 and weigh in at 180,000 gross tons, making them the largest of the Carnival fleet (8<\/a>).\u00a0 Although the two LNG-powered cruise ships will set a new precedent for cruise ships based in North America, the trend of \u201cbigger and better\u201d vessels likely undermine some of Carnival\u2019s eco-friendly improvements. (762)<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a>. Eilperin, J, 2012. \u201cCruise ship lines, Alaska officials question new air pollution limits,\u201d\u00a0The Washington Post<\/em>, [Online]. Available at:\u00a0https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national\/health-science\/cruise-ship-lines-alaska-officials-question-new-air-pollution-limits\/2012\/07\/22\/gJQAc4Jy2W_story.html<\/a>, accessed 2 November 2016.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a>. Business Wire: A Berkshire Hathaway Company. 2016.\u00a0\u201cMission Accomplished: Crystal Serenity Completes 32-Day Northwest Passage Journey.\u201d [Online]\u00a0http:\/\/www.businesswire.com\/news\/home\/20160916005705\/en\/Mission-Accomplished-Crystal-Serenity-Completes-32-Day-Northwest<\/a><\/u>, accessed 2 November 2016.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a>. Statista Research and Analysis. 2016. \u201cRevenue of the cruise industry U.S. 2020.\u201d [Statistic] \u00a0https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/317787\/revenue-forecast-of-the-us-cruise-industry\/<\/a>, accessed 4 November, 2016.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a>. Carnival Corporation, Fiscal Year 2012 Sustainability Report, pg 2. 2012.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a>. Friends of the Earth. \u201cCarnival Cruise Lines Report Card.\u201d http:\/\/www.foe.org\/cruise-report-card\/line\/1<\/a>, accessed 4 November, 2016<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Carnival Corporation, Fiscal Year 2015 Sustainability Report, pg 38-40. 2015.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a>. Morris, Gregory. \u201cLNG Emerging as Fuel of Choice for Vessels, Ferries.\u201d The Oil and Gas Reporter, July, 2013.\u00a0 http:\/\/www.aogr.com\/web-exclusives\/exclusive-story\/lng-emerging-as-fuel-of-choice-for-vessels-ferries<\/a>, accessed 4 November, 2016.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Clarke, Patrick. \u201cCarnival Announces Company\u2019s Largest, More Eco-Friendly Cruise Ships.\u201d Fox News, September, 2016. http:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/travel\/2016\/09\/07\/carnival-announces-companys-largest-more-eco-friendly-cruise-ships.html<\/a>, accessed 4 November, 2016.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amidst a booming tourism industry, can massive cruise ships achieve sustainability?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2401,"featured_media":13050,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[],"class_list":["post-13049","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/assignment\/climate-change-challenge-2016\/","yoast_head":"\nCruising Toward a Cleaner Future - Technology and Operations Management<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/cruising-toward-a-cleaner-future\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cruising Toward a Cleaner Future - Technology and Operations Management\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Amidst a booming tourism industry, can massive cruise ships achieve sustainability?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/cruising-toward-a-cleaner-future\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Technology and Operations Management\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/carnival-vista-ship-caribbean.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"251\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/cruising-toward-a-cleaner-future\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/cruising-toward-a-cleaner-future\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cruising Toward a Cleaner Future - 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