Inside the Environmental Strategy Behind MSC Cruises’ Newest Ship

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As cruising moves into its next chapter, sustainability is shaping the pace and direction of innovation across fleets and ports. Forward-thinking cruise operators are focusing on investment in new technology, ship design, and renewable fuels in making their sustainability commitments a reality.

For MSC Cruises, the center of gravity for this strategy is integrating innovation into its new ship designs. MSC World America, its newest and most advanced ship, demonstrates this commitment, as the ship is not only designed with the U.S. market top of mind but also integrates systems to support responsible travel. Built for LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) and future fuel compatibility, the vessel incorporates emission-reducing engines, shore power connectivity, and next-generation water treatment systems.

“MSC World America represents a major step in our sustainability journey,” said Linden Coppell, vice president of sustainability and ESG at MSC Cruises. “It’s one of the most energy-efficient cruise ships in the world, surpassing fuel efficiency requirements under the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Energy Efficiency Design Index.”

MSC World America is the cruise line’s first LNG-powered vessel to homeport in North America. The use of LNG enables the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by up to 20%, eliminates sulfur oxides and particulates, and cuts nitrogen oxides by up to 85%. The ship can also run on Bio-LNG and Synthetic Renewable LNG with no modifications needed to the ship or its engines. These renewable alternatives to conventional LNG can reduce lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions when produced and available at scale.

The ship carries an Advanced Wastewater Treatment System that meets the IMO’s “Baltic Standard,” the strictest standard for wastewater treatment in the maritime industry. This means wastewater is treated to a level that often exceeds municipal standards before being discharged. The ship can also generate a large share of its freshwater needs through onboard desalination, reducing the draw on local resources.

“We produce 87% of our freshwater needs through seawater desalination and back it up with conservation measures that cut overall consumption. This reduces pressure on the communities we visit, especially where water is scarce,” said Coppell

Solid waste management follows a reduce-reuse-recycle model across the voyage lifecycle. Led by the company’s onboard dedicated Environmental Compliance Officer, the waste management program segregates 41.5% of materials onboard so it’s ready for recycling.

On the port side, partnerships are key. Collaboration between the city, utilities, and cruise lines at PortMiami has delivered shore power across several terminals, including dedicated shore power at the MSC Cruises terminal, where MSC World America and the rest of the fleet can plug in and switch off their engines while docked. Today, 18 out of 23 of the company’s ships and all Explora Journeys ships, the company’s new luxury brand, can already plug in, with upgrades due to bring that number to 19 in the cruise division by the end of 2025.

“Sustainability in cruising doesn’t start and stop with the ship — it extends to every port we call on and every community we engage with. Our partnerships with ports and cities are important to us, and we take a collaborative approach to ensure we’re advancing together,” said Coppell.

The cruise line is also using digital tools to improve daily operations. Systems like OptiCruise, which optimizes itineraries and sailing speeds, and Oceanly Performance, which monitors energy use in real time, allow crews to adjust routes, engine loads, and hotel systems while at sea, with constant support from its onshore teams who also have complete access to this data. These tools helped the company save about 16,000 tonnes of fuel and avoid roughly 50,000 tonnes of CO₂ in 2024.

According to a CLIA report, by 2028, 50% of all new cruise ship capacity will have engines that can run on LNG/methanol and switch to bio- or synthetic-LNG with little or no engine modifications. MSC Cruises is preparing for that future by designing ships that adapt to multiple pathways. Its LNG ships can utilise bio and synthetic LNG, and future ships are designed for compatibility with methanol, with tanks and piping systems modified for that purpose, should methanol emerge as a commercially viable alternative marine fuel in the future.

The company has laid out its decarbonization strategy in a comprehensive Energy Transition Plan outlined in its 2024 Sustainability Report, verified by Bureau Veritas, a global classification society that sets maritime standards and independently verifies compliance. The plan charts a path to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from marine operations by 2050, with interim emissions reduction goals. MSC Cruises has already reduced its fleet’s carbon intensity by 38.9% by 2024, putting the company within reach of the industry’s 40% reduction target six years early. It reports progress annually, tracking fuel use, efficiency gains, and emissions reductions across the fleet.

Those efforts are already visible in practice. In 2023, MSC Euribia’s maiden voyage from Saint-Nazaire to Copenhagen showed the potential of renewable fuels when it achieved net-zero greenhouse gas emissions using 400 tonnes of certified Bio-LNG. Certification under the EU Renewable Energy Directive and independent verification by ISCC confirmed the achievement. The voyage proved that renewable fuels can already enable cruises to operate with net-zero emissions on a lifecycle basis, but scaling requires investment in supply chains and regulation.

According to Coppell, decarbonization is a system-wide effort: “Moving the industry forward means investing in current and future solutions, expanding shore power connectivity, optimizing itineraries, retrofitting ships with energy-efficient technologies, and using renewable fuels,” she said. “Reaching net-zero requires a coordinated, industry-wide effort rooted in innovation, accountability, and long-term vision.”

The next step lies in the technologies already under development. The company has already trialled a fuel cell on one of its ships to generate electrical energy for onboard hotel operations. The hope is that these alternative power-generating systems can be scaled up to meet the energy demand of the ship’s hotel operations.

It also applies the same innovative thinking to its destinations. The company transformed 64 square miles of a former industrial sand mining site into a flourishing marine habitat at Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve in the Bahamas. Coral restoration projects, endangered species monitoring, and biodiversity research now shape the guest experience while restoring local ecosystems. The MSC Foundation, in partnership with academic institutions, continues to expand restoration efforts so that environmental protection and tourism value advance together.

The path ahead is long, but MSC Cruises is laying its foundations through verifiable progress markers: energy efficiency to reduce fuel consumption, utilizing technology to identify reduction in emissions, and investing in shore-based solutions to reduce local emissions. For the cruise line, the road to 2050 runs through practical increments, ship by ship, port by port, and decision by decision.

To learn more about MSC World America, click here.

This content was created collaboratively by

MSC Cruises and Skift’s branded content studio, SkiftX.