In celebration of Earth Day, Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) today highlighted the continued efforts of its member lines to give protection to the sea environment.
CLIA and its members lines have a vested interest in protecting the surroundings, not just as it is the responsible thing to do – but in addition because clean oceans and beaches are necessary to the cruise experience. The international environmental standards that apply to the cruise line industry are stringent and comprehensive and are established by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), a United Nations agency, in addition to national laws of port States where cruise ships visit. The cruise industry, however, employs practices and procedures which are substantially more protective of our surroundings than are required by regulation and CLIA member lines must meet and frequently exceed all applicable environmental regulations on a ship’s voyage.
CLIA members were on the forefront of wastewater treatment, emissions reduction and the construction of innovative technologies to further reduce the environmental impact of boating.
“I am extremely pleased with the extensive investments and ongoing commitment of our member lines to safeguard the surroundings for future generations through responsible practices and continuous innovation,” said Christine Duffy , president and CEO of CLIA. “The cruise industry has invested extensively to develop and implement wide variety of recent technologies that protect air and water quality and increase energy efficiency.”
Energy efficiency is an important focus of the cruise industry, which has adopted practices similar to using recycled hot water to heat passenger cabins, using special window tinting to maintain passageways cooler while using less air con, and switching to low energy LED lights which last 25 times longer, use 80% less energy, and generate 50% less heat. All of those efforts also reduce air emissions. CLIA members have invested significantly over the past decade to develop and implement new technologies that help to minimize air emissions, including utilising exhaust gas scrubbers, developing engines that run more efficiently and extending using shore power, which involves a boat connecting to shore-side power and closing down its own engines while in port.
Working with the IMO, america and other flag and port States, CLIA has participated within the development of consistent and uniform international standards governing waste management that apply to all member ships that travel internationally. CLIA members have also adopted the Cruise Industry Waste Management Practices and Procedures, that are much more protective than the present regulatory requirements.
Many CLIA member lines offer programs to elevate passenger awareness and to encourage them to conserve energy and contribute to the industry’s environmental stewardship efforts by recycling paper, plastic, aluminum cans and glass by utilizing dedicated bins inside the ship. Passengers also are encouraged to maintain energy like they might do at home, resembling turning off lights when not of their cabins.
Additional initiatives and practices in place at CLIA member lines include the next:
* Several lines are in various stages of utilising advanced wastewater treatment systems which might produce water cleaner than most wastewater treatment facilities in U.S. cities.
* One member line has installed solar panels on five ships — and on one ship over 200 solar panels were installed, which generate enough power to function approximately 7,000 LED lights.
* a variety of member lines use fabric bags – including laundry, dry cleaning, and shoe shine bags – in lieu of plastic bags, thereby reducing plastic from the waste stream.
* Many lines are using ecological, non-toxic, slick hull coatings that save up to 5% of fuel usage for propulsion.
* Condensation from shipboard aircon units is reclaimed after which re-used to scrub the decks on a CLIA member line’s ships, saving as much as 22.3 million gallons of unpolluted water in 2012 alone.
* One CLIA member line saves paper by means of an E-Tickets program which delivers cruise documents to guests electronically in place of on paper. The passengers cruise documents are delivered as a PDF file through email.
* Various ships are installing high-efficiency appliances onboard their ships with a purpose to minimise their impact at the environment. All types of appliance onboard the ships is evaluated for efficiency, including TV’s, coffee makers, ovens and dishwashers.
* One CLIA member line is self-generating 87% of the water used on board its ships, compared with 65% in 2008.
* One CLIA member line introduced a revolutionary system for fresh water production that consumes 40% less power than traditional systems.
* Current shipboard recycling programs onboard one line’s ships eliminates greater than 900 a whole lot metal, glass, plastic and paper — approximately 45% of all solid waste generated — from traditional waste streams annually.
* Through its robust waste management programs, one line has increased its waste recycled and reused by over 75% while reducing the volume of waste going to landfill by over 50% formerly five years.
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