Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines Achieves Silver Carbon Literate Organisation Status, Leading Cruise Sector Growth in Climate Action Through Carbon Literacy and Sustainability Training

Written By: Gishan Das

Gishan Das

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June 30, 2026 6:16 PM

Fred. Olsen Cruises has attained Silver Carbon Literate Organisation accreditation, making it the first cruise line to obtain such accreditation through The Carbon Literacy Project. This is an important milestone for Fred. Olsen Cruises as it works on embedding climate literacy and carbon awareness into its organisation. This accreditation has been awarded to the company on 3 June 2026 during the seventh annual Carbon Literate Organisation Awards. It comes after the company was given the Bronze Carbon Literate accreditation in November 2025.

A Cruise Industry First with Wider Meaning

The Silver Carbon Literate Organisation status is important because cruising is an energy-intensive sector. Ships, hotels at sea, catering, port operations and travel logistics all carry environmental impacts. For this reason, climate awareness cannot sit only inside a sustainability department. It needs to reach operations, guest services, procurement, food, technology, administration and leadership teams. Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines has used the programme to help colleagues understand how daily choices affect carbon emissions. The award does not mean the company has solved every climate challenge. It means it has built a recognised internal culture of learning, action and accountability.

From Bronze to Silver in Less Than a Year

The move from Bronze to Silver status shows clear progress in a short period. After receiving Bronze Carbon Literate accreditation in November 2025, Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines expanded its training programme. Since then, it has delivered Carbon Literacy training to 88 employees across 17 departments. The programme now reaches 40% of the workforce. This matters because climate action becomes stronger when more employees understand the issue and can apply it to their own roles. A shipboard or shoreside decision may look small, but repeated across teams and voyages, small changes can build meaningful operational progress.

What Carbon Literacy Means for Cruise Operations

Carbon Literacy is based on understanding the carbon costs and impacts of everyday activity, along with the ability and motivation to reduce emissions at an individual, community and organisational level. In a cruise business, this can apply to many areas. It can affect how teams use energy, manage food, reduce waste, design digital processes, communicate with guests and support more efficient operations. The value is not only educational. It is practical. Staff who understand carbon impacts can make better decisions at work. They can also influence colleagues, suppliers and guests through more informed choices.

Training Turns Awareness into Daily Action

A major strength of the programme is its focus on action. Carbon Literacy training asks learners to connect knowledge with practical steps. For a cruise line, that can mean reducing paper use, improving waste systems, supporting smarter procurement, changing internal routines or identifying avoidable energy consumption. Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines has linked the training with real projects across the organisation. This helps avoid the risk of climate learning becoming a one-off exercise. Instead, it becomes part of workplace culture. The company’s progress shows how training can support a more active approach to sustainability inside a travel business.

Digitalisation Helps Cut Selected Shipboard Waste

One practical outcome highlighted by Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines is the digitalisation of selected shipboard services. This matters because cruise operations still use large amounts of printed information, forms, schedules and guest-facing material. Moving some services into digital formats can reduce paper use and improve efficiency. It can also make information easier to update during a voyage. Digitalisation is not a complete climate solution by itself, but it can support broader carbon reduction when used carefully. It also reflects a modern cruise experience, where guests increasingly expect quick, accessible and low-waste communication onboard.

AI Food Waste Monitoring Strengthens Bolette’s Sustainability Push

Another important initiative is the use of AI-powered food waste monitoring technology on board Bolette. Food waste is a serious issue for hospitality businesses, including cruise ships. Large-scale catering requires careful planning, and small forecasting errors can create avoidable waste. AI monitoring can help teams understand what food is being wasted, when it is wasted and how operations can improve. This can support better menu planning, purchasing, preparation and serving practices. For Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, the technology shows how climate awareness can connect with operational data. It also helps turn sustainability into a measurable process.

Sustainability Goes Beyond Training

The Silver award sits within a wider sustainability journey. Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines has already highlighted several environmental measures across its operations. These include using shore power where available for Bolette and Borealis, carrying out dry docks and maintenance to extend ship life, applying efficiency measures during refurbishments, and using specialist technology to plan itineraries with lower environmental impact. The company has also referenced sustainable biofuel use on a share of Borealis sailings after a successful trial. These measures show that climate training is being supported by operational changes, not left as a stand-alone internal campaign.

Cruise Sector Faces Stronger Climate Expectations

The recognition also comes as the wider cruise and maritime sectors face growing pressure to decarbonise. The International Maritime Organization has adopted a strategy for international shipping to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by or around 2050. The strategy also includes checkpoints for emissions reductions by 2030 and 2040. Meanwhile, the cruise industry, through CLIA, has stated that cruise lines are pursuing net-zero emissions by 2050 and are using measures such as operational efficiency, new technologies, shore power, fuel flexibility and pilot programmes. Against this backdrop, workforce climate knowledge becomes more important for every cruise operator.

Why Workforce Culture Matters in Decarbonisation

Technology will play a major role in the future of cruising, but people will still decide how systems are used. A ship can have better equipment, but staff need to understand why efficiency matters. A company can invest in food waste monitoring, but teams need to act on the data. A business can reduce paper, but colleagues must support new processes. This is why Carbon Literacy can be valuable. It builds a shared language around climate action. It helps employees connect individual behaviour with organisational goals. It also makes sustainability less abstract and more relevant to daily work.

A Clear Message for Responsible Cruising

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines has built its brand around smaller ships, personalised service and carefully planned itineraries. The new Silver Carbon Literate Organisation status adds another dimension to that identity. It shows that responsible cruising is not only about destination choice or guest experience. It is also about the way teams think, train and act behind the scenes. The award strengthens the company’s sustainability credentials, but it also sets a higher expectation for continued progress. Silver status is a milestone, not an end point. The next test will be how deeply carbon-conscious decisions continue to shape operations

First-Mover Status Could Influence the Wider Industry

Being the first cruise line to earn Silver Carbon Literate Organisation certification is a great demonstration of leadership for Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines. Other cruise lines will start paying attention to the topic of workforce climate training as part of their sustainability policies. It is necessary since the industry should not only wait for new fuels or new vessels but take immediate actions using people, processes, procurement, waste and behavior changes.

The fact that Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines has proved that climate education can be integrated into operations is quite crucial when considering the context of decarbonization challenges.

Image Source: Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines