Sustainability initiative launched by TUI Cruises in industry first

A new project announced today sees TUI Cruises become the first cruise company to address cruise ship CO2 emissions with behaviour change service Signol.

The pioneering initiative, which initially runs for six months, combines advanced data analysis with behaviour science to help crew members on TUI Cruises’ Mein Schiff cruise vessels to save fuel while performing their daily operational duties.

Harnessing the power of crew behaviour is the next step in TUI Cruises’ decarbonisation efforts, which already include using shore-power, low-emission fuels, innovative exhaust gas cleaning systems and future-proof propulsion systems for newbuilds wherever possible to reduce emissions from cruise ships’ engines.

TUI Cruises’ Head of Sustainability, Lucienne Damm, said: “Reducing carbon emissions is one of TUI Cruises' main priorities in relation to our Sustainability Strategy 2030.

“As a young cruise line company, we’ve always ensured that our vessels use the latest and most efficient environmental technologies, but we know that the crew also play a vital role in ensuring that we minimise the environmental impact of our voyages.

“Signol enables us to address fuel efficiency at an even deeper level, by actively engaging crew members on how they can make the most of their opportunities to save fuel and reduce emissions.”

Signol worked closely with TUI Cruises to identify four operational processes where Captains and Chief Engineers have the most potential to reduce fuel consumption. One example is ensuring on-time departure to minimise avoidable engine running time. These fuel-saving opportunities - also known as Signol’s ‘behaviours’ - have been defined and calculated using detailed insights on cruise ship specific operations, enhancing Signol’s existing analysis of fuel-saving opportunities in other shipping contexts and enabling Signol to provide a sophisticated service tailored for the cruise industry.

TUI Cruises’ crew members will be encouraged to increase their fuel-saving behaviour in these areas through a set of behaviour change techniques, delivered directly via Signol’s web app and email communications.

These science-based techniques include personalised fuel-saving goals based on crew members’ previous behaviour, and charitable donations made by TUI Cruises for every fuel-saving milestone achieved.

Signol representatives attended TUI Cruises’ Senior Officer Conference in 2024 to hear directly from Captains and Chief Engineers on how Signol could best support their fuel-saving efforts. The workshop encouraged them to share their personal insights and best practices related to fuel-saving opportunities onboard, which fed into Signol’s analysis and definition of fuel-saving behaviours to improve.

Harriet Hunnisett Johnson, Head of Maritime at Signol, said: “We’re thrilled to be launching Signol’s behaviour change service in the cruise industry for the first time with TUI Cruises.

“As a human-centric decarbonisation solution, Signol is always looking to ensure that crew members are engaged and prioritised in fuel efficiency and decarbonisation initiatives. By working closely with TUI Cruises’ captains, we’ve developed a sophisticated approach to fuel-saving onboard cruise ships which is tailored to their experiences and tasks each day.”

Signol’s work with TUI Cruises makes use of unparalleled data available through digital logbooks and performance monitoring tools on TUI’s cruise ships, which has enabled Signol to model the fuel-saving opportunities and activities onboard with greater complexity and accuracy than ever before. This has been achieved through Signol’s unique ability to pull together data sources from any data provider and use data from a variety of systems onboard.

Captains onboard Mein Schiff vessels said that the Signol project would provide “reliable data sources’ to understand their impact on fuel consumption, and would “start a measurable record of continuous emissions reduction without compromising safety.”