Swiss cruise line MSC Cruises made waves with a promotional video for the "future of cruising," during which the company made the case for sustainable cruise ships. However, social media users are alleging that the claims qualify as "greenwashing."
One Redditor posted a link to the video with the caption, "This has to be greenwashing, right?"
The user adds, "How could we possibly already be at the point of 'green' cruise ships? There's no way. maybe greener, but certainly nothing compared to what people think."
The voiceover in the video asks questions like, "Can we power our ships with cleaner fuel?" without giving any answers. The video ends with, "Can cruising ever reach zero emissions? We think it can. And we'll keep asking questions until it does."
The Redditor also adds a link to a Ship Technology article with the headline, "MSC Cruises to launch new green cruise ship in June."
The idea of a "green" cruise ship is pretty far-fetched at this point. The cruise ship industry has been a major target of environmentalists for a long time — and rightly so, as the industry's negative environmental impact has been well documented.
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Cruise ships can use up to 250 tons of fuel every day, which is likely more gas than you'll use in your entire lifetime. Meanwhile, Carnival Corporation, the largest cruise company in the world, has been hit with over $60 million in fines since 2017 for environmental violations.
While it's a good sign that cruise lines are trying to move toward more sustainable cruising, it's understandable why many believe MSC's "environmentally advanced" ship could be considered greenwashing.
Greenwashing is a strategy to make a company or product seem more eco-friendly than it is in reality. For example, people have called out Kim Kardashian multiple times for greenwashing her skincare line and shapewear brand.
Other Reddit users were very skeptical of MSC's claims of sustainable cruise ships.
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One user states, "The cruise industry gets lots of bad press because they are horrible for the environment. This is their attempt to make themselves look good. 100% greenwashing."
One Redditor took issue with MSC's announcement that its new ship, Euribia, will run on liquified natural gas (LNG), which could reduce carbon pollution by 25%. "It is greenwashing! Building a new ship with only 25% lower emissions that runs on LNG. Not even close to being green," they say.
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