Survey: Passengers interested in paying more for reduced emissions

An impressive majority of 68 percent of Finnish maritime respondents who participated in a recent survey have expressed their willingness to pay more money in exchange for emission reduction on their travels.

The EPSI Rating’s Passenger Transport 2023 survey examined the customer experience and customer satisfaction for different maritime transport companies. A total of  928 Finnish individuals who took at least one cruise or one scheduled sailing from Finland over the past 12 months were surveyed.

The interviews were conducted during the period May 3–9, 2023. The survey was also conducted in Sweden and Estonia.

Nearly half of those who completed the survey said they would choose even more climate-smart transport modes in the future, and two thirds are prepared to pay to reduce their environmental impact.

Viking Line has been voted the most sustainable shipping company in service between Finland and Sweden, according to the findings from the survey.

This is the second time in a row for the company to achieve this ranking among Finish maritime passengers, the company said.

Viking Line’s sustainability index for service between Finland and Sweden is 71.1, while the industry average is 70.1. The index measures customers’ views and perceptions of the actions of shipping companies in terms of corporate social responsibility and sustainable development.

Viking Line said it received the best marks in all parts of the sustainability index: economic, social and environmental sustainability. The other shipping companies examined in service between Finland and Sweden were FinnLines and Silja Line.

“We are proud of our ranking, because we have carried out focused environmental work since the 1980s and also take into consideration the other aspects of sustainability in all our operations. It is very encouraging that, according to the survey, our passengers have the greatest expectations in terms of sustainable development – and they are also the most satisfied with our communication on sustainability.  In order to make sustainable choices, people need knowledge, and we want to give our passengers more and more of this every year,” says Dani Lindberg, sustainability manager at Viking Line.

Of the people who responded to the survey, 51 percent indicated that they take the climate and environmental impact of their travel into account. Some 46 percent intend to choose transport modes that are even more climate-smart in the future, while 31 percent plan to reduce their travel. However, only 3 percent of respondents plan to replace physical meetings with digital ones.

“One of our biggest environmental initiatives this year is that we offer our passengers and will soon offer our cargo customers the chance to purchase biofuel to offset the fuel used on their trip. When a passenger booking a trip chooses biofuel, greenhouse gas emissions from their journey are reduced by as much as 90 per cent compared to the other fuels that our vessels use,” notes Dani Lindberg.

“On a cruise between Turku and Stockholm, the biogas supplement per passenger is scarcely five euros, so we think this new option will satisfy our customers’ wishes really well.”