Episode 7
Cruise Pioneers | Navigating Net Zero Through Innovation & Partnerships
In this episode of Cruise Pioneers, host Birgit Liodden is joined by Anshul Tuteja, VP of Energy Strategy and Decarbonisation at Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings. With over 20 years of maritime experience—including leading global fleet optimisation and decarbonisation at Royal Caribbean Group—Anshul is at the forefront of the cruise industry’s green transition.
Together, they explore the path to a net-zero cruise industry by 2050, diving into company and industry-wide sustainability strategies. From energy efficiency and vessel optimisation to future fuels and hybrid technologies, Anshul shares insights on how the cruise sector is evolving toward a cleaner, waste-free, and nature-friendly future.
The conversation also highlights the power of collaboration with startups and innovators, unlocking mutually beneficial solutions to accelerate the journey to net zero. Anshul offers valuable advice for startups looking to enter the cruise industry and play a role in shaping its sustainable future.
Tune in for a forward-thinking discussion on the technologies, strategies, and partnerships driving the next era of sustainable cruising.
Transcript
>> Birgit Liodden: Welcome to the Cruise Pioneers podcast by
Speaker:tool hosted on Seatrade Cruise Talks
Speaker:Podcasts.
Speaker:Hello, I'm Birgit Leodon, Sustainability Ambassador
Speaker:of Seatrade Trade and founder of the Ocean Opportunity Lab.
Speaker:In this new series we will dive into the pioneering
Speaker:initiatives of cruise lines and entrepreneurs who
Speaker:move and change the cruise industry. We focus on
Speaker:real life frontrunner initiatives and power
Speaker:couples enabling crews to move
Speaker:from pollution to solution. Get on board our
Speaker:shared expedition as we get behind the scenes
Speaker:and explore how owners, founders and
Speaker:top executives move from vision to
Speaker:deployment. With me today from Miami is
Speaker:Anshul, Vice President, Energy
Speaker:Strategy and Decarbonization at Norwegian
Speaker:Cruise Line Holdings. Anshul is a maritime
Speaker:executive with more than 20 years of experience in
Speaker:strategic leadership and technical roles,
Speaker:scaling sustainable business solutions and
Speaker:creating a multidimensional framework to accelerate
Speaker:innovation and change. Anshul is
Speaker:celebrated for new ways of thinking, challenging old
Speaker:ideas and building mutually benefiting
Speaker:partnerships. And before ncl, he
Speaker:spirited the Global Fleet Optimization and
Speaker:Decarbonization strategy as an
Speaker:Associate Vice President with Royal Cribbing
Speaker:Group where he led their energy asset and programme
Speaker:management for all of the five cruise brands under
Speaker:the group's umbrella. Anshul, it's so nice to
Speaker:have you in the studio with us today.
Speaker:>> Anshul: Thank you very much Birket and I must commend this brilliant
Speaker:initiative that you've started within the maritime industry.
Speaker:So kudos to that and thank you very much. I feel privileged to be
Speaker:part of.
Speaker:>> Birgit Liodden: This podcast series and we are so
Speaker:excited to get to dive into
Speaker:your very dedicated background
Speaker:and also some quite cool and open
Speaker:ideas. Moving through this episode, I
Speaker:wanted to make this a little bit personal while also
Speaker:checking in on the NCL targets and
Speaker:starting by introducing the
Speaker:company and the pioneer commitment. Can
Speaker:you share a bit with us about NCL's
Speaker:key targets but also let
Speaker:us in on your own personal commitment
Speaker:as a cruise pioneer with high level targets
Speaker:towards a clean, waste free,
Speaker:nature friendly cruise industry building the
Speaker:competitive edge for a future proof industry
Speaker:onwards.
Speaker:>> Anshul: Absolutely. So NCLH
Speaker:Norwegian Cruise line Holding has three main brands,
Speaker:Norwegian Cruise Lines, Oceania and Region 7 Seatrade
Speaker:Cruises. And we have this programme, the
Speaker:environmental programme called Sail and Sustain.
Speaker:And basically the fundamental of Sail and Sustain programme
Speaker:is to ensure that we deliver the
Speaker:vacations to all our guests, but in a responsible
Speaker:way. obviously as you can imagine, the sale and sustain
Speaker:programme encompasses a lot of aspects of
Speaker:sustainability, but from a decarbonization
Speaker:perspective, which we all are
Speaker:constantly and relentlessly moving towards,
Speaker:is to have a net zero as many of the companies
Speaker:around the world by 2050. And
Speaker:we have intermediate milestones which are very well
Speaker:synchronised with the IMO targets. aiming
Speaker:for a 10% reduction in intensity by
Speaker:2026, then aiming for 25%
Speaker:intensity reduction by 2030 and then eventually
Speaker:going to net zero by 2050. So that's from the
Speaker:NCL edge side. and the programme that we have,
Speaker:the sale and sustain programme from my side. I think
Speaker:I've now been in this industry for now more than 20
Speaker:years as you pleasantly introduced me.
Speaker:And obviously I've ah, been on both the shipboard side
Speaker:as well as on the shore side. And my
Speaker:personal aim is that how can we challenge the
Speaker:status quo within the industry and have some
Speaker:bold visionary ideas to make this
Speaker:industry really kind of
Speaker:achieve all the goals and targets
Speaker:that we have in terms of decarbonization and broader
Speaker:sustainability aspects. So I think over the last 10
Speaker:years that I've been, or actually 10 plus years that I've been here on the
Speaker:shore side, I've been pushing the
Speaker:boundaries and targets that how do we
Speaker:enhance the energy efficiency on our fleet and how do
Speaker:we cut the energy waste? Because I believe
Speaker:enhancing the energy efficiency is the first
Speaker:fuel towards the transitions of the bigger goals and
Speaker:targets that we have. And obviously now with all the
Speaker:regulatory environment that is changing, we
Speaker:obviously need to think big, we need to obviously
Speaker:achieve those incremental improvements but also aim for
Speaker:those radical improvements that the industry is
Speaker:very much in need of if you compare ourselves
Speaker:to the aviation and the automobile industry.
Speaker:So again, challenging the status quo, thinking
Speaker:big, thinking bold, leveraging data
Speaker:and machine learning and AI into the
Speaker:shipping industry and achieving ultimately the
Speaker:decarbonization and net zero goals by 2050.
Speaker:>> Birgit Liodden: A great starting point for the next question
Speaker:that I prepared for you Anshul. I mean to
Speaker:achieve this kind of change
Speaker:from the inside, but also looking towards other
Speaker:industries, I would like to dive in with
Speaker:you a little bit more about the potentials,
Speaker:the untapped potentials of power coupling,
Speaker:large corporate players like yourself and
Speaker:the world of startups and smaller innovators.
Speaker:And I want to hear a bit about your
Speaker:perspectives, you know, the optimal dynamics
Speaker:of how we can work with this power coupling.
Speaker:Because obviously you as a group have
Speaker:amazing resources, great opportunities
Speaker:to make change and then there are also some
Speaker:capabilities that typically are stronger
Speaker:with small and nimble startups
Speaker:and brand new companies. So can you
Speaker:share with me what you consider yourself as
Speaker:kind of those optimal cases of power coupling
Speaker:and what can you bring to the table. And
Speaker:what is it that you need from small
Speaker:stakeholders?
Speaker:>> Anshul: Well that's a very interesting terminology called
Speaker:power coupling. And I think in any couple
Speaker:format you need to identify the mutual win,
Speaker:the mutually benefiting relationship between the two partners
Speaker:or multiple partners, as you engage in that
Speaker:process. I think no single entity, no
Speaker:single company, no single country, can
Speaker:achieve the kind of challenges
Speaker:on its own. I think especially when it comes to decarbonization
Speaker:of the industry, especially for a very hard to wage sector
Speaker:like shipping, it's going to be very difficult for any
Speaker:single company to find all the solutions by itself.
Speaker:So certainly we need to partner. Collaboration is the
Speaker:key, communication is the key. But obviously
Speaker:the industry is also very limited. Right. It's a very
Speaker:small industry compared to the other
Speaker:sectors which are, you know, outside our kind of
Speaker:domain of maritime, what we call as maritime.
Speaker:I certainly believe that, you know, obviously we are
Speaker:making all these incremental improvements with our partners but
Speaker:I certainly believe there is a lot of potential
Speaker:outside the industry. There are a lot of ideas
Speaker:that we can cross pollinate and bring some of those
Speaker:ideas within our industry. Now you
Speaker:asked me about the power coupling and what is the most
Speaker:optimal dynamic. I think, you know, we must
Speaker:realise as a, as an industry that you
Speaker:know, we have to also go out and communicate
Speaker:with these, you know, small startups where we have to make
Speaker:them understand that what are the challenges as
Speaker:an industry we are facing. They may have a brilliant idea
Speaker:and they may even have a solution which is probably working on
Speaker:land based solutions but they may not have an idea that
Speaker:how to kind of have an application on board a vessel
Speaker:and sometimes I refer to as the modernization
Speaker:of the great idea that is already being levied
Speaker:on the land based solution. similarly
Speaker:on the startup side, obviously they need to also
Speaker:show an intent. They also need to be ready
Speaker:to be bold and be part of this challenge
Speaker:to associate themselves with the maritime industry. So
Speaker:I think in a sense both the parties need to
Speaker:come together. We need to obviously share all our challenges and
Speaker:opportunities. They need to learn from us and they need to
Speaker:be ready, ready enough to be
Speaker:agile and move quickly enough to
Speaker:achieve some of these successes together.
Speaker:>> Birgit Liodden: And how easy is it for a startup to get in
Speaker:touch with you guys? I mean you're among
Speaker:the four largest groups in this
Speaker:field.
Speaker:>> Anshul: Yeah, that's a good question. And oftentimes it's not that
Speaker:easy because obviously there are many players that you
Speaker:have to deal with at the same point in time.
Speaker:But I think There are a lot of incubators, like I believe you
Speaker:have an incubator that you're running on your side, a lot of incubators that
Speaker:are coming up and they have obviously their connections
Speaker:into the big maritime companies. So I would suggest
Speaker:like any startup who's out there obviously, you know, try
Speaker:to reach out directly, indirectly. There are many platforms,
Speaker:many forums now which are available and
Speaker:eventually I think that somehow that
Speaker:ice has to be broken, in order to connect all the
Speaker:parties. But you're right, I think Birkhead, in a
Speaker:broader sense it's sometimes easier said than done.
Speaker:But I certainly believe if you really believe in
Speaker:your technology and mind you, I'm like most of the maritime
Speaker:companies are now even actively seeking to
Speaker:be partners of such incubators because they know that's where
Speaker:most of the talent is actually coming to. So
Speaker:obviously it's sometimes very difficult to identify a needle in a
Speaker:haystack and neither we're not going to be going
Speaker:out and going to every single startup. But I
Speaker:think there are many, numerous platforms and incubators
Speaker:which are available as of today where some of these
Speaker:startups or many of these startups can associate
Speaker:themselves and somehow if the technology
Speaker:has a value proposition, will certainly bubble
Speaker:up to the maritime company
Speaker:or an entity for sure.
Speaker:>> Birgit Liodden: M Of course for these
Speaker:startups it's so important to know
Speaker:where are the pain points, where are the issues that
Speaker:the big corporates needs their help of
Speaker:solving. I wanted to also tune
Speaker:in and hear from you if you can share a bit
Speaker:about NCL's work so far, where
Speaker:you are now on your path towards
Speaker:reaching these high level ambitions. Where is
Speaker:it that you are, you know, on track or ahead of the group's
Speaker:target? Or are there any specific
Speaker:areas where you have experienced some, challenging
Speaker:bottlenecks or barriers that you really
Speaker:would see as great opportunities
Speaker:for startups to come in
Speaker:with new alternative solutions?
Speaker:>> Anshul: Yeah, so obviously as I mentioned early on
Speaker:that sustainability is a very broad topic for
Speaker:a cruise vessel in particular because you're dealing
Speaker:with all the way from air kind of how do you
Speaker:handle your air emissions, how do you handle your waste
Speaker:emissions, your wastewater emissions, your grey water
Speaker:emissions, your wet and dry waste, et
Speaker:cetera, et cetera. So it's a very broad category. Now
Speaker:obviously what I'm focusing
Speaker:on is on the decarbonization side. Right. And,
Speaker:and as I mentioned early on that energy
Speaker:efficiency is our first fuel towards our
Speaker:transition because all these big goals that we have to
Speaker:achieve are only possible through future low
Speaker:carbon alternatives. Obviously you can keep
Speaker:enhancing the energy efficiency of our fleet, but you're not going
Speaker:to hit those targets till the time you
Speaker:basically incorporate all these new future
Speaker:fuels and future technologies. So I think the
Speaker:industry, or the sector, cruising sector in particular
Speaker:is slowly but surely ushering into an
Speaker:era of hybridization. We're going to see multi fuels,
Speaker:across different sectors, we're going to see different technologies and so on and
Speaker:so forth. I think in short term, in short to medium
Speaker:term, our focus now is on
Speaker:technologies that enhance our
Speaker:energy efficiency and cut our energy base. So there's a lot of
Speaker:potential, a lot of solutions out there which
Speaker:are working very well on a land based solutions or land
Speaker:based applications which can be, you
Speaker:know, somewhat brought into the
Speaker:maritime application. There are already many, but there are many
Speaker:more new innovative ideas that are coming and that
Speaker:could, and that's not just purely from a hardware perspective, it could also
Speaker:be from a software, from a data and digitalization
Speaker:perspective, machine learning, AI and all those
Speaker:different elements. Right. If you ask me about the bottlenecks,
Speaker:I think the bottlenecks are again the
Speaker:fuels, right now all the regulations,
Speaker:the technology, the supply, they're not
Speaker:synchronised. The regulations are somewhat 10 steps
Speaker:ahead of what is available right now.
Speaker:I think now with all these increasing
Speaker:regulations in the taxonomy, there's a lot of money that is
Speaker:being collected within Europe and elsewhere around the world
Speaker:and we hope to see some of that coming also
Speaker:through the imo, very soon. The
Speaker:key challenge here now is that how do we effectively
Speaker:use that, all that money, all that revenue
Speaker:that we're going to be collecting through the allocation or
Speaker:auctioning of those revenues that
Speaker:how do these startups and organisations
Speaker:effectively leverage all that money into
Speaker:building that infrastructure for the future, especially in
Speaker:terms of fuel. So the last mile connectivity
Speaker:and building those fuels and getting it on board the vessel,
Speaker:I think that's where our biggest bottleneck is right now. We may
Speaker:be ready by 2028, 2029, but
Speaker:the big challenge is where are we going to find all that
Speaker:biofuel and the green fuels and the E fuels.
Speaker:And you can very well imagine we are not the only ones competing for
Speaker:those fuels. There are many other sectors like aviation, the
Speaker:data centres and so on and so forth, who are going to be also
Speaker:competing for those green electrons and green molecules.
Speaker:so we are looking for some innovative supply chain ideas, innovative,
Speaker:innovative solutions for producing these fuel at
Speaker:scale and the availability at which we need
Speaker:across the globe and also the price parity. I'm like as you
Speaker:can imagine, these fuels right now they're trading at
Speaker:somewhere between two to three times, two to actually eight times the
Speaker:premium of the conventional fossil fuels.
Speaker:So I think that's where the bigger bottleneck is.
Speaker:How do you create the scale, the availability and the
Speaker:pricing parity between the conventional fuels?
Speaker:And how can these startups, or how can different
Speaker:companies come together and come up with these
Speaker:innovative ideas and solutions by which we
Speaker:can somehow remove these bottlenecks
Speaker:and have the industry embrace all
Speaker:these future solutions to effectively
Speaker:decarbonize over the longer run?
Speaker:>> Birgit Liodden: Couldn't, agree more. So that's one
Speaker:hotspot for the innovators. It's basically the energy
Speaker:supply chain. Then I wonder what ah, about
Speaker:your existing vessels? Because of course we can't
Speaker:new build our way through this.
Speaker:We also have to do a lot of exciting and
Speaker:challenging stuff on retrofits,
Speaker:implementing new solutions
Speaker:as part of this new toolbox
Speaker:really. So which areas is it that
Speaker:you are looking into where there could be great
Speaker:opportunities for entrepreneurs? Would you look at energy
Speaker:and circular solutions etc. on board
Speaker:your existing vessels?
Speaker:>> Anshul: As you can imagine, we are still building ships and
Speaker:again the average life of these vessels is somewhere between
Speaker:30 to 35 years, which is roughly 10 to
Speaker:15 years higher than a conventional
Speaker:regular bulk carrier or container
Speaker:ships, et cetera. So any ship that we are building today will
Speaker:be very much in the water by 2050,
Speaker:as you can imagine, unless the regulations kind of
Speaker:snatch away the licence to operate in some point in time.
Speaker:But I don't expect that to be happening because obviously there
Speaker:will be some solutions which will be available for us to
Speaker:retrofit, etc. Etc. So I think
Speaker:in the short run, as I mentioned, that energy efficiency
Speaker:also, or operations optimization
Speaker:is one of our biggest focus areas. And when
Speaker:we talk about operations optimization, we're looking at
Speaker:for example route optimization, ensuring that. How
Speaker:are we planning our itineraries in the most
Speaker:effective way? How are we kind of ensuring that we're
Speaker:having the most optimal port stay, Are we
Speaker:departing on time, are we arriving on time and so
Speaker:on and so forth. Looking at vessel operations
Speaker:optimization, again, cruise vessels are
Speaker:technologically very advanced vessels. There are so many
Speaker:systems, so many solutions on board, from galleys
Speaker:to laundries to H vac to energy
Speaker:that is consumed on the electrical side. So again, there's
Speaker:a lot of sensors, there's a lot of data that is collected on
Speaker:board, billions of raw data tags that we collect.
Speaker:and now obviously with the available bandwidth how we can
Speaker:leverage that data, apply the analytics and derive
Speaker:business intelligence out of it so that we can
Speaker:effectively help our shipboard personnel
Speaker:to pinpoint where exactly they need to act
Speaker:upon. we also obviously look at the hull coating
Speaker:strategy that how, what kind of technology do we put on
Speaker:our ships? Because it's not just only about the paint that goes on
Speaker:underwater, it's actually a technology. And obviously you
Speaker:mentioned about circularity. We are obviously working with our paint
Speaker:partners that how can we minimise the
Speaker:impact of any particulates that
Speaker:we put in these paints to obviously ensure
Speaker:that we are having minimum coefficient of
Speaker:friction, but also making sure that we're not leaving any
Speaker:bad footprint into our oceans.
Speaker:>> Birgit Liodden: Right.
Speaker:>> Anshul: Because ultimately that enters into our food chain and you know,
Speaker:all the kind of repercussions post that. So we're working on
Speaker:circularity that every time a ship goes into a dry dock,
Speaker:when we, when we kind of, you know, blast all that pain,
Speaker:can we reuse that, you know, inorganic compound
Speaker:into and make it a more of a circular economy when
Speaker:it comes to the paint? obviously on
Speaker:the energy retrofit sides, I mean like there's
Speaker:a lot of potential over there from H vac to electricals
Speaker:to hydrodynamics and we are constantly looking for new ideas
Speaker:and believe me, it's just never ending. And we are
Speaker:seeing so many solutions that are emerging now and we
Speaker:expect to see them growing and growing. Obviously then there are
Speaker:other aspects about shore power and
Speaker:other aspects which obviously we do our level best to
Speaker:make sure that our fleet is capable and ready
Speaker:to be able to plug in. But I think right now the challenge is
Speaker:more on the shore side that how many ports are
Speaker:ready, with the shore power connection and more importantly
Speaker:they're ready with the shore power connection. What's the energy mix
Speaker:that they are delivering to our ships?
Speaker:>> Birgit Liodden: It's quite a complex, topic.
Speaker:And it's also interesting because you
Speaker:spent some time as an executive in residence
Speaker:with Oceans Exchange, which is I think my
Speaker:opinion, you know, probably the leading
Speaker:innovation, competition and challenge in
Speaker:our industry. And so you have also been diving
Speaker:in little bit deeper with startups
Speaker:than a lot of the other executives. And are
Speaker:there any specific directions,
Speaker:niches, type of solutions? If you look at
Speaker:onboard carbon capture and storage,
Speaker:wind, solar, et cetera, are there any kind
Speaker:of favourite nerding areas that
Speaker:you discovered, that you are following
Speaker:especially that you think is really well fit for,
Speaker:for the large cruise vessels?
Speaker:>> Anshul: Yeah, I think my time in Ocean Exchange has
Speaker:been incredible. Because I think the kind of
Speaker:knowledge and the, the brilliance that I've
Speaker:come across has just been mind blowing. Like you know,
Speaker:there's so much of talent out there. It's
Speaker:unfortunate. As you rightly said in the very beginning of this
Speaker:conversation, like how do we make, how do we power
Speaker:couple you know, the industries which are
Speaker:actively seeking for these solutions and all that
Speaker:great talent that exists outside the industry or within
Speaker:the industry to bring some of these ideas, to
Speaker:nurture some of these ideas and to kind of grow them at
Speaker:scale. So I think whatever time I've spent in Ocean Exchange
Speaker:and I've dealt with all these companies, there are so much of
Speaker:innovation, there's so much of talent that is just
Speaker:incredible. I mean like the insights that they bring and obviously,
Speaker:you know, we as large corporations
Speaker:being part of such incubators also is helpful because
Speaker:we obviously then take our challenges, our
Speaker:opportunities to the table and that's where the two
Speaker:parties meet and we share those ideas.
Speaker:And to be very honest, I've come across many great
Speaker:technologies and interestingly enough what I
Speaker:found is that how some of these
Speaker:startups have been able to break down the
Speaker:complexity of a certain equipment, of
Speaker:a certain technology and be
Speaker:able to still deliver or at least envisioning to
Speaker:deliver exact same output but
Speaker:very minimal resources or in a smarter
Speaker:way which hasn't been thought through in the industry. Again
Speaker:there are many examples again from carbon
Speaker:capture to production of future fuels, to
Speaker:battery energy storage systems to fuel cells,
Speaker:to many new smart ideas of
Speaker:leveraging AI and machine learning. So again
Speaker:the talent pool is massive, the ideas
Speaker:are immense and it's now
Speaker:obviously responsibilities of both parties to come together
Speaker:and march together to find
Speaker:and keep moving this dial forward of finding some exciting
Speaker:solutions to the big challenge that we have.
Speaker:>> Birgit Liodden: And based on this experience that you've had with actually
Speaker:being getting that period of time where
Speaker:you're able to allocate
Speaker:more time basically to really get
Speaker:to know the innovators ecosystem. One of
Speaker:the major challenges for a lot of the innovators coming
Speaker:from out, from the outside or not holding the corporate background
Speaker:right, it is kind of getting
Speaker:those doors open and getting access
Speaker:to senior executives,
Speaker:advisors from the
Speaker:stakeholders that represent their own
Speaker:future customers. Do you have some good advice both
Speaker:through to other cruise executives out
Speaker:there? How can they contribute, how should they,
Speaker:you know, contribute towards bringing that
Speaker:industrial experience into to the startup world?
Speaker:And also for the startups, how could they
Speaker:approach industrial stakeholders?
Speaker:Whether they don't get the sales in straight
Speaker:away, how could they approach others like
Speaker:you to kind of to vet their
Speaker:thesis and to vet their theories and
Speaker:make sure that they develop solutions that the
Speaker:industry can actually work, with and
Speaker:use?
Speaker:>> Anshul: Yeah, so certainly I think it's a two way traffic.
Speaker:you know, obviously the executives or
Speaker:corporations have to play their part and obviously the innovators
Speaker:have to play their part of innovating
Speaker:and you know, discovering those, or inventing those
Speaker:brilliant ideas. So obviously with my experience, what I
Speaker:can share, I think communication is the key.
Speaker:you can obviously roll up your sleeves and sit in the garage
Speaker:and invent the most brilliant idea, but till
Speaker:the time you're not going to take it outside the garage and
Speaker:socialise about that idea, that idea is just going to sit
Speaker:in your garage and just keep piling dust. Right?
Speaker:So I think once, and sometimes
Speaker:the idea could be just a moonshot, it could be over the
Speaker:horizon idea, but sometimes you don't know
Speaker:how to proceed with that idea, how to
Speaker:materialise that idea. Now you may have a brilliant idea,
Speaker:but you need some guidance early
Speaker:on to be channelizing all your
Speaker:energy. And obviously all these startups have limited kind
Speaker:of resources when it comes to energy, in terms of
Speaker:capital, in terms of manpower, etc. So they
Speaker:need to be very particular that, okay, if we have a great
Speaker:idea, how do we channelize this in the right
Speaker:direction so that we are effectively leveraging
Speaker:all the resources that we have. So again, it could be
Speaker:a, over the horizon idea. And there are many
Speaker:multiple resources out there which you can
Speaker:use to bounce off these ideas through these incubators.
Speaker:Obviously the incubators can, obviously they're working
Speaker:sometimes closely with some of these big
Speaker:entities and you don't need to go and literally bounce off this idea
Speaker:with 10 different companies. I think if one or
Speaker:two representatives are there and helpful
Speaker:enough to give you some feedback, feedback back, then at least
Speaker:you're heading in the right direction. Contrary,
Speaker:on the executive side, on the company sides,
Speaker:again, as I said, everybody is actively seeking for
Speaker:these innovative solutions. Right. As I said early
Speaker:on, we can't just solve all these big problems by
Speaker:ourselves and we are looking for these solutions. I
Speaker:think as an industry executive you need to be out there.
Speaker:You can't just sit there and expect that all these
Speaker:companies that are going to just magically appear on your table and they're going
Speaker:to, you know, give you the solutions you have to get
Speaker:out. You also have to go and explain your
Speaker:challenges and opportunities. How are these ships
Speaker:operating? Most of the times what I've learned In my kind
Speaker:of interactions over the years is that,
Speaker:you know, we think that the world understands
Speaker:us, the world understands cruising or the world understands
Speaker:maritime. And unfortunately, when you meet with some of these
Speaker:innovators, they may have brilliant solutions, but they don't understand
Speaker:shipping, even though nine out of 10 goods in
Speaker:your home come from the ships. But many of these innovators
Speaker:don't understand that. What are the challenges, why the
Speaker:shipping industry is such a hard to abate sector. So
Speaker:that's why the onus is also upon the shipping industry.
Speaker:One to communicate effectively, what are
Speaker:the challenges and how can they be converted into
Speaker:opportunities then obviously to invest. I'm
Speaker:like to co invest to an investment doesn't mean only
Speaker:from a capital point of view. Investment means from a time perspective
Speaker:like, hey, are we ready to invest some of our time, some of
Speaker:our data? Because data is also key for some of these
Speaker:innovators to learn and bring the idea to
Speaker:a fruition because they may have brilliant
Speaker:technology, but till the time you feed in the data
Speaker:for it to then bring an output for you, it's also
Speaker:not kind of very useful. So I think
Speaker:investment in terms of time and capital and then obviously
Speaker:nurturing them. Because once you've identified a
Speaker:moonshot, or even if not, if it's not a moonshot
Speaker:of something which can be applied in a year or two, then you
Speaker:need to nurture the technology, you need to modernise the technology,
Speaker:you need to make sure that it's effectively being
Speaker:integrated into and you can obviously run test
Speaker:pilots. We have multiple ships which can be
Speaker:used. Obviously you can't make them as guinea pigs, but
Speaker:certainly if a technology has a good enough value
Speaker:proposition, they can be brought on board and they can be
Speaker:validated. And again, we have equal
Speaker:skin in the game from both the company as well as from
Speaker:the innovator and you can move that forward, which then
Speaker:lays down the pathway for future innovation to happen.
Speaker:Or the replication of the technology onto the rest of the
Speaker:fleet.
Speaker:>> Birgit Liodden: Absolutely. And that kind of, picking up on
Speaker:that point, you have there, you know, bringing them on
Speaker:board. I mean you have been an executive in
Speaker:residence. I often like to compare
Speaker:ships with like being, you know, the
Speaker:optimal floating canvas for
Speaker:innovation. And what would you think, about like a
Speaker:concept of, of thinking of this as, you know,
Speaker:entrepreneur in residence, so that you could actually
Speaker:get the entrepreneurs and the innovators out there,
Speaker:with stakeholders in, in the cruise sector to actually,
Speaker:you know, familiarise them more with
Speaker:how our real life world,
Speaker:functions out on The Seven Seas.
Speaker:>> Anshul: I think you just hit the nail in the head by using the
Speaker:terminology when you say like, you know, the floating
Speaker:canvas. And I think that's very
Speaker:well put. Like, you know, we literally have a floating canvas
Speaker:and there is, there's an opportunity in every
Speaker:aspect of cruising. I mean like, you know, to
Speaker:enhance, to innovate, to make the cruising, make the
Speaker:vacationing more responsible. Going to the
Speaker:future. so I think the, the industry's
Speaker:existence very much depends on innovation and
Speaker:sustainability because we can't just keep operating like
Speaker:this. Certainly will have to change the course, alter
Speaker:the course, be bold, be radical.
Speaker:And again, certainly we will be more
Speaker:than willing and helpful to have
Speaker:entrepreneurs on board who can sail with us. and
Speaker:we'll be more than happy to open the doors. And I think most of the
Speaker:companies should be happy to open the doors because have those
Speaker:entrepreneurs come on board, sail with you, spend some time
Speaker:with you, I think because once they are on board they will
Speaker:understand the problem or the
Speaker:challenge in actual reality. And then
Speaker:it's easy to connect those dots once you get back onto
Speaker:the drawing board, onto the canvas that how do we now
Speaker:connect those dots in a way
Speaker:which can be mutually benefiting in many aspects
Speaker:of sustainability. So I like that idea. The
Speaker:entrepreneurs in residence.
Speaker:>> Birgit Liodden: Great. So I think I will
Speaker:definitely push this forward to ctrade.
Speaker:Imagine if, like for ctrade 2026,
Speaker:that we could actually bring back to the
Speaker:Expo a portfolio of companies
Speaker:and entrepreneurs that have been through such an
Speaker:initiative. And then I, then I wondered because
Speaker:we I mean we talked about the, the decarb side of
Speaker:it, which is your, you know, core area.
Speaker:But, but you also mentioned in our initial
Speaker:conversation, solutions handling
Speaker:your waste streams and the issues
Speaker:and impact of your
Speaker:operations, when it comes to local communities and
Speaker:more the social sustainability aspect. Are there
Speaker:any areas there specifically where you would
Speaker:direct our attention when it comes to, you know, where,
Speaker:where there is really great opportunities for, for
Speaker:partnering up, with innovators?
Speaker:>> Anshul: Yeah, absolutely. And I think that's the whole fundamentals of
Speaker:sail and sustain that. You have to keep sailing, but you have to sail
Speaker:in a very sustainable and responsible way. And
Speaker:again, you know, and operations of this size and
Speaker:this complexity involves many different waste
Speaker:streams. Obviously. One area that you mentioned that I'm very
Speaker:closely working on is obviously the decarbonization, which
Speaker:is the air emission sites. Obviously, you know, looking at
Speaker:greenhouse gases, you're looking, looking at local
Speaker:emissions and as well as the local pollutions, local
Speaker:pollutants, but how do we manage the wet
Speaker:and the dry waste on board? And there are many ideas out there
Speaker:that are there any ways that we can effectively
Speaker:manage this? one is obviously the recycling and the
Speaker:circularity part of it that how do you effectively
Speaker:store them on board and then you land them ashore and
Speaker:after you land them ashore, are they reaching the right points of
Speaker:recycling and recirculation and being, putting, put back into
Speaker:the economy, but also on board, how can
Speaker:we, because again, you know, it takes a lot of space on
Speaker:board to store them as well, before you actually,
Speaker:actually can land them. But can they be effectively be
Speaker:used on board? Meaning can we
Speaker:generate energy from waste, and how
Speaker:can we effectively convert some of the waste into
Speaker:energy, into, into fuels, into et
Speaker:cetera? So I think there's a lot of effort, there's a lot of good
Speaker:things that have happened where a lot of that waste energy or
Speaker:those waste streams have been converted. Obviously none
Speaker:of the wastewater is actually ever emitted into the oceans
Speaker:without getting properly treated in an effective
Speaker:way. But again, you know, there are many, many more
Speaker:opportunities of converting these waste streams into
Speaker:some meaningful, ways of converting them
Speaker:either through energy or putting them, you know, in a
Speaker:recircular way back into the economy or back to the ship's
Speaker:operations or ships use. Plus also I think one thing
Speaker:I would just quickly add is the, on the social side of the things as
Speaker:well because you know, we obviously visit some of these
Speaker:small islands across the world. I'm like, you know, ocean is
Speaker:our bread and butter and and we have to
Speaker:obviously make sure that we are conserving our oceans
Speaker:from sound perspective,
Speaker:not polluting our oceans and also not leaving any trace
Speaker:to all these islands that we go and how we
Speaker:can contribute to the sustainability of the
Speaker:island, coastal resilience and making
Speaker:sure that also these communities, these small communities
Speaker:which actually are our extended family when
Speaker:we visit these different ports, that how can we
Speaker:also leverage our, you know, our
Speaker:connections, our resources to somehow also
Speaker:uplift these communities in these small, you
Speaker:know, developing island nations, over a longer period
Speaker:of time.
Speaker:>> Birgit Liodden: Excellent. Thank you so much. And then
Speaker:I just have one last question that we ask, for
Speaker:all our cruise pioneers and cruise innovators and that
Speaker:is linked to tomorrow's talents today
Speaker:because of course in this
Speaker:extremely complex transition phase that we
Speaker:are in, we really need great people on
Speaker:board with us building the future of cruise.
Speaker:And I would like to hear your five cents, your
Speaker:personal hacks or advice to
Speaker:talents and current and future industry
Speaker:colleagues. If you have some specific
Speaker:skill sets or mindset that you consider
Speaker:key. For those talents who are eager
Speaker:to join the cruise pioneer movement,
Speaker:I would.
Speaker:>> Anshul: Start by saying like, it's not unfortunate,
Speaker:but it's not like many. Often that it happens
Speaker:when people pass out from their
Speaker:Ivy League schools or some other
Speaker:exciting educational institutions and they say like, yeah,
Speaker:we're ready for the maritime industry because again the
Speaker:knowledge about shipping or maritime is very limited.
Speaker:but again that also tells us there's
Speaker:ample opportunity out here. I mean like these
Speaker:vessels are going multiple
Speaker:locations all over the globe. So the
Speaker:potential or the scale at which you can
Speaker:define the future of cruising, of
Speaker:maritime is immense. Right. So
Speaker:I think important is the
Speaker:communication, and having that ability, ability to
Speaker:challenge the status quo. I think there's a lot of opportunities
Speaker:on board. I know the shipping has
Speaker:had that kind of very conservative approach. So I think
Speaker:for the future pioneers, I think what's important is that you
Speaker:should be willing, you should be daring enough to have
Speaker:those bold ideas and be willing to challenge the status
Speaker:quo. And the opportunities are limitless.
Speaker:And the scale at which you can have an impact
Speaker:both on cruising, both on shipping and also the
Speaker:overall economy in general, it's
Speaker:immense. So it's a great time, It's a great
Speaker:time to be in this industry. And the industry is
Speaker:evolving and the industry is ready to evolve. The
Speaker:industries is kind of kicking itself and saying like, hey,
Speaker:we can't just keep operating like this. So we
Speaker:need some innovators, we need some great minds to
Speaker:come join this movement, to take the cruising
Speaker:or shipping in general towards the pathway of decarbonization.
Speaker:It's a very hard to abate sector. Everybody understands that. But
Speaker:that can also tell you that what are
Speaker:the opportunities? It's limitless. So I
Speaker:think it's a great time and I encourage everybody who's
Speaker:listening out there to be part of this movement
Speaker:and join and you're going to leave a big impact, a
Speaker:big legacy for the years to come for both shipping and
Speaker:maritime.
Speaker:>> Birgit Liodden: Absolutely. And what a better time to be
Speaker:a change maker than in a time where there is a lot of
Speaker:big, big challenges to resolve. And also
Speaker:within an industry where you as one
Speaker:person, one human being can actually be
Speaker:part of really making an
Speaker:international footprint.
Speaker:>> Anshul: Absolutely.
Speaker:>> Birgit Liodden: That leaves us on ah, a good
Speaker:note and we are soon going to team
Speaker:up together at Seatrade Trade in Miami for their
Speaker:40th anniversary. And Anshul, you will
Speaker:be part of our decarbonization
Speaker:panel on the, Safety and Sustainability
Speaker:Theatre. I'm really excited for that
Speaker:and I think that all innovators out there should really make
Speaker:sure, to get in touch with you and your
Speaker:peers in Miami. And I want to thank
Speaker:you so much for joining us today and
Speaker:sharing your wisdom and experience
Speaker:and, advice with us.
Speaker:>> Anshul: Well, thank you very much, Brigitte. Honours was mine and
Speaker:again, best wishes and we look forward to
Speaker:collaborate and keep moving this journey forward
Speaker:until we reach the destination Net zero.
Speaker:>> Birgit Liodden: Excellent. Thank you.
