Speaking at the Clia UK and Ireland Cruise Forum in Tilbury on Thursday, Carnival UK chairman David Dingle said the cruise industry is on the verge of an era of radical change as far as ship design is concerned.
He believes this will be largely driven by technological advances, which sees cruise ships no longer powered by oil as has long been the case.
Dingle said: “One of the biggest changes will be completely newly designed ships and that will be driven by, more than anything else, the advent of new fuels.
“Instead of oil there will be liquid natural gas and the design totally changes. We’re going to see some very different vessels driven by technology and environmental considerations.”
More immediately, Dingle said current ongoing concerns over global travel are unlikely to have an impact on the cruise industry.
He added: “With the security situation we’ve seen no impact at all. One of the good things about ships is they are a little more secure.
“Clearly the most important thing is to make sure our security with ships around ports is as good as it possibly can be.”
He added the rules governing the security of ships in port were covered by the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS) which he believes are adequate, provided individual countries adhere to them.
