What Fuel Do Cruise Ships Use?

Most cruise ships run on marine diesel or heavy fuel oil, with a growing number of newer ships burning cleaner liquefied natural gas (LNG). Whichever fuel a ship uses, it gets through a lot of it — a large cruise ship can burn well over a hundred tons a day at sea.

The main fuels ships use

Cruise ship fuel falls into a few broad categories:

• Heavy fuel oil (HFO). A thick, low-grade residual fuel that’s been the traditional workhorse of large ships for decades. It’s cheap but dirty, so it has to be burned with scrubbers in many regions.
• Marine gas oil and marine diesel. Cleaner, lighter distillate fuels used near coastlines and in emission-control areas where HFO isn’t allowed.
• Liquefied natural gas (LNG). The newest option, found on a wave of recently built ships. It cuts sulphur and particulate emissions sharply and burns much cleaner than oil.

Many ships are designed to switch between fuels depending on where they are and what local rules require.

How much fuel a cruise ship burns

Exact figures vary with the ship’s size, speed, and route, but the scale is enormous. A big modern cruise ship can burn somewhere in the range of 100 to 250 tons of fuel on a full sea day. Sailing faster burns disproportionately more, which is one reason ships often cruise at moderate speeds to save fuel.

That fuel doesn’t only move the ship. It also feeds the generators that power the lights, kitchens, air conditioning, pools, and everything else on board, so a ship is burning fuel even when it’s sitting in port.

Why LNG and alternatives are growing

Tighter emissions rules and public pressure have pushed cruise lines toward cleaner options. LNG is the most common alternative today, and lines are also testing biofuels, methanol, shore power (plugging into the local grid in port), and battery systems for short stretches. None of these has fully replaced oil yet, but the mix is slowly shifting.

Related guides

Part of our How Cruise Ships Work hub.