Cruise Lines International Association Joins WOC

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) has partnered with the World Ocean Council (WOC), an international business leadership alliance dedicated to Corporate Ocean Responsibility.

For years, cruise lines have implemented policies and procedures to reduce the industry’s environmental impact. While CLIA members’ approximately 300 oceangoing cruise ships, expected to transport 24 million travelers this year, comprise far less than 1 percent of the global merchant fleet’s 50,000 oceangoing ships, they are at the forefront of developing responsible environmental practices and innovative technologies that lead the world’s shipping sector. Many cruise lines not only meet, but exceed environmental regulatory requirements in a number of areas.

Said Bud Darr, CLIA Senior Vice President for Technical and Regulatory Affairs, “protecting and caring for the environment is fundamental to the cruise industry. We depend on healthy oceans, clean beaches and pristine destinations that meet passengers’ expectations today and in the future. CLIA is proud to become a member of the World Ocean Council. This international industry platform creates the opportunity for our cruise line members to collaborate with like-minded peers from other sectors in tackling the shared sustainability challenges affecting the future of the ocean and the future of our business.”

The WOC Board Chair, Neil Baird, added, “The WOC is honored to welcome CLIA to our global, multi-industry leadership alliance. Tourism is the largest economic sector globally by many measures, and it is dominated by coastal and marine interests. The cruise industry is the fastest growing ocean industry and so we welcome CLIA’s involvement in the WOC. We look forward to marine and coastal tourism and resort operators becoming involved in the WOC in order to bring their Corporate Ocean Responsibility leadership to the efforts of the collective ocean business community.”