Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) unveiled the 2020 Global Cruise Industry Environmental Technologies and Practices Report, which details the strides member lines have made on the environmental technology front.

The report, which was produced by Oxford Economics, found CLIA member lines have spent more than $23.5 billion in ships with new technologies and cleaner fuel to reduce air emissions and achieve greater efficiency, representing a $1.5 billion increase over 2019 report findings.

The 2020 report noted that 49 percent of newbuild capacity will rely on liquified natural gas (LNG) for primary propulsion, which represents a “51 percent increase in overall capacity compared to 2018,” the report said.

Upward of 69 percent of capacity uses exhaust gas cleaning systems (EGCS) to “meet or exceed air emissions requirements, representing an increase in capacity of 25 percent compared to 2018,” the report said, adding that 96 percent of non-LNG newbuilds will install EGCS, for an increase in capacity of 21 percent compared to 2019.

Furthermore, 99 percent of new ships will be constructed with advanced wastewater treatment systems. Currently, 70 percent of CLIA member line fleets are equipped with advanced wastewater treatment systems, which represents an increase of 5 percent over 2019.

Seventy-five percent of new ships will be constructed with “shore-side electricity systems or will be configured to add shore-side power in the future,” the report said.

“Even as we have worked to address and overcome the impacts of COVID-19, the cruise industry remains committed to a cleaner, more sustainable future,” said CLIA President and CEO Kelly Craighead. “With over $23 billion invested in ships with new technologies and cleaner fuels, such as exhaust gas cleaning systems and liquified natural gas, I can only imagine what we will accomplish together in the next ten years and beyond.”