At a time when the global cruise industry continues to grow, investing billions of dollars in new ships and cleaner technologies, Greece faces a double challenge: to maintain the strong position it has secured on the European map of the sector and, at the same time, to create a stable and predictable environment that will allow companies to invest and plan their presence in the country over the long term.The issue is no longer limited to the number of arrivals or passengers. It touches on costs, port fees, power supply infrastructure, the energy transition, water and waste management, as well as whether the country has an overall strategy to spread cruising to more destinations.
This was also the main message that emerged from the interventions of industry executives at the International Conference on Maritime Transport, organized in Thessaloniki by the International Hellenic University in cooperation with the Hellenic Ports Association ELIME.
The Eastern Mediterranean director of the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), Maria Deligianni, placed at the center the need for stable rules and sufficient adjustment time for new charges, while MSC Cruises' representative in Greece, Kyriakos Anastasiadis, directly raised the issue of the absence of a comprehensive national plan for cruising.
At the same time, CLIA’s new annual Environmental Technologies and Practices Report records a different but directly related front: cruise ships are rapidly acquiring new environmental capabilities, while onshore infrastructure is not developing at the same speed.
The need for predictability is now high on the agenda of cruise companies. In a statement to ANA-MPA, Maria Deligianni stressed that CLIA has pointed out to the Greek government the need to shape a clear, stable and predictable operating environment for companies operating ships in Greece.
The element that differentiates cruising from many other tourism activities is the long-term nature of planning.
Companies schedule their itineraries years in advance, while overall strategic planning can extend even to a five-year horizon.
For this reason, according to CLIA, changes in port fees or other financial charges should be put to consultation 18 to 24 months before their planned implementation, while the new charges should be finalized at least 12 months earlier.
The issue, as Ms. Deligianni explained, is not exclusively the amount of a new charge. It is also the time the company has at its disposal to incorporate it into its budget and commercial policy.
When a new charge is imposed within a short period of time, cruise packages may already have been priced and sold.
In this case, the additional cost cannot be transferred in time to the final price and weighs on the company’s budget.
She also linked the estimate for lower activity in Greece this year not only to geopolitical upheavals in the wider region, but also to the increase in operating costs and lower predictability.
She made special reference to the cruise fee, noting that in some cases it can add up to 200 euros to the total cost for a family of four.
Despite the individual pressures, Greece’s position remains strong
According to the data presented by CLIA, the country ranks third among European destinations, after Italy and Spain, with about 6,000 cruise ship calls and more than 8 million passenger visits annually.
The picture is even stronger if the international environment is examined. Global passenger traffic in cruising is about 25% above 2019 levels, while a further increase of about 4% is expected this year, to 38.3 million passengers.
At the same time, about 60 new cruise ships are scheduled to join the fleet over the next decade, representing investments on the order of 71 billion dollars.
From three ports to eight - The strategic gap
Kyriakos Anastasiadis, for his part, raised the need for Greece to move from managing existing traffic to an overall development strategy.
MSC Cruises' representative in Greece stressed that the cruise fee should not be examined separately from the way its revenues are utilized.
The critical question, according to him, is whether part of the resources drawn from cruising can be returned to the sector and the destinations through investments, promotion, upgrading port infrastructure and incentives for the development of new calls.
The discussion takes on particular importance because of the high concentration of traffic in a limited number of Greek ports.
“The question is how the three ports will become eight,” was his characteristic remark, placing at the center the need for new destinations to be selected and developed.
Thessaloniki and Kavala are two characteristic cases of ports that could gain a larger share, provided that there is a specific policy for attracting companies.
Especially for Thessaloniki, the problem does not concern only the quality of the destination or the infrastructure. Its geographical position entails additional distance, time and fuel consumption for a cruise ship operating a seven-day program starting from ports in Italy.
Mr. Anastasiadis thus put up for discussion the possibility of using part of the revenues from the cruise fee to provide temporary incentives to new destinations, until they acquire sufficient momentum to be steadily incorporated into company programs.
This is essentially a different approach: instead of cruise policy being limited to collecting fees from already popular destinations, the resources should become a tool for the geographical expansion of activity.
The need, however, for coordination among companies, ports, governments and energy providers is not only a Greek issue.
As the global cruise fleet moves into a new phase of technological and energy investments, the focus is now shifting to the creation of the infrastructure and conditions that will allow these new capabilities to be utilized on a large scale.
It was precisely on this parameter that CLIA President and CEO Bud Darr also focused, stressing that cruise companies are steadily increasing their investments in more efficient ships, multi-fuel engines, shore power and advanced environmental systems.
“Year after year, the data show that cruise companies continue to invest in the technologies, fuels and operational capabilities that make the global cruise fleet more efficient and prepare it for the future,” he said characteristically.
He also added that “the progress reflected is the result of continuous investment and innovation by cruise companies worldwide - from more efficient ships and engines capable of using multiple fuels to shore-side energy support capability and advanced environmental systems.”
“Cruise companies continue to invest to achieve ambitious decarbonization goals, building ships that can use new lower-emission energy sources, alongside a range of other environmental technologies and practices,” Mr. Darr added.
“To fully realize the potential of these investments, fuel producers, governments, ports, energy providers and other stakeholders will need to help create the conditions that will enable availability on a large scale,” he stressed.
Ships are ahead of ports
The second major challenge concerns the energy transition. The data in CLIA’s new annual report reflect a very rapid technological transformation of the fleet, but at the same time highlight the deficit that continues to exist in port infrastructure.
The most characteristic example is shore power, namely the ability of cruise ships to connect to the onshore electricity grid when they are berthed in port and reduce the use of their engines.
In 2018, only 55 ships of CLIA member companies had this capability. Today the number has reached 193, representing about 65% of ships and 72.5% of declared capacity.
By 2039, the number of ships capable of connecting to shore power is projected to rise to 279.
The picture at ports, however, is completely different. Only 40 ports worldwide visited by cruise ships have at least one berth with shore-side power capability - a percentage lower than 3%.
This gap is decisive. The investment on board the ship cannot pay off if the port does not have compatible infrastructure or if the cost of electricity is so high that it makes its use uncompetitive.
This is exactly what the MSC representative also pointed out. For shore power to work in practice, cooperation among four parties is required: the companies, the ports, the energy providers and the State.
Greece has a clear time milestone ahead of it, as the European Fit for 55 framework provides for the development of relevant infrastructure at the main European ports by 2030.
At the same time, cruising is gradually reducing its dependence on heavy fuel oil.
According to the data submitted to the IMO, the use of HFO fuel in cruise ships accounted for 74.2% of declared fuel use in 2019 and had fallen to 60.6% in 2024.
Correspondingly, the use of non-HFO fuels increased from 25.8% to 39.4%, while CLIA data for 2025 raise the percentage to 40.3%.
At the same time, ships with multi-fuel engines are increasing. From just one in 2018 they have now reached 30, while they are projected to rise to 56 by 2030 and to 69 by 2039.
According also to EMSA data, the average fuel consumption per cruise ship reporting to the European MRV system decreased by about 18.5% between 2018 and 2025, while average CO₂ emissions per ship fell by about 19.4%.
From water to waste
The environmental transition of cruising is not, however, limited to carbon emissions.
In countries such as Greece, where several islands are faced with increased pressure on their water resources, the ability of ships to produce the water they need themselves becomes particularly important.
According to CLIA, 293 cruise ships currently have the capability to produce potable water at sea, while 218 can theoretically cover all their needs without being supplied by the destination.
Wastewater management is moving in the same direction. A total of 249 ships have advanced treatment systems, compared with 136 in 2018, while 124 can comply even with the strictest standards in force in the Baltic special area.
Kyriakos Anastasiadis placed particular emphasis on this dimension, noting that the environmental responsibility of cruising concerns not only the carbon footprint, but also how much it burdens a destination in terms of water and waste.
Here too, however, ship technology is only one side of the equation. The other lies onshore: in reception facilities, recycling, energy infrastructure and the overall planning of ports.
The great challenge for Greece is therefore broader than achieving yet another arrivals record. It is to turn the strong position it already has into a sustainable development model, with more destinations, predictable rules, modern port infrastructure and reciprocal utilization of the revenues generated by the sector.
In a global market that is growing and a fleet that is changing technologically at a rapid pace, the question is no longer only how many cruise ships will come to Greece. It is whether the country will be able to create in time the conditions to remain competitive in the next day of cruising.
ANA-MPA