The cruise industry is collectively striving for cleaner air standards internationally, and Norwegian Cruise Line is doing its part by having environmentally enhanced its Norwegian Jade and Norwegian Sun.
"We have both a moral responsibility and business imperative to sustain the places we sail and the communities that support our industry," said Cindy D'Aoust, president and CEO, Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), in a press release.
"Through innovative and state-of-the-art air emissions programs, we make clean ocean air one of our top priorities."
Norwegian specifically retrofitted the Jade and Sun with a new Exhaust Gas Cleaning system. Combined with the line's Sail & Sustain environmental program, the technology will help to dramatically lower air emissions.
The exhaust scrubbers remove sulfur oxide and particulate matter prior to emissions exiting the ships' smokestacks. Each vessel received five such scrubbers, one per engine. Together, they can reduce sulfur by up to 99 percent and 85 percent of particulates. Combined, the Jade and Sun will lessen the equivalent of around 3,000 tons of Sulfur Oxide, SOx, gas during the coming years.
As a whole, CLIA Cruise Line Members-Norwegian included-are always investing in new ship designs and innovative technologies. One objective is to reduce new marine vessel CO2 emissions by 30 percent come 2025. Other goals include lowering fuel consumption by 5 percent by applying hull paints with special non-toxic coatings and producing emissions-free energy via solar panel installations.
To such ends, the industry has collaborated with the likes of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in order to regulate environmental standards. It has also gathered NGOs and maritime stakeholders to share air emission reduction concepts.
Norwegian is on its own way to achieve its MARPOL Annex VI compliance objective to lower its global sulfur cap from 3.5 percent to 0.5 percent by 2020.
Besides clean air goals, the line's Safety and Environmental Protection Policy calls for lessening overall operational impact on the environment, disposing of waste according to domestic and global regulations, the recycling and reuse of materials, and targeting other means to improve the environment via management.
All of this is to say the cruise industry-although environmentally imperfect at times-is making concerted efforts to be the best it possibly can be. Provided brands like Norwegian Cruise Line continue to do their part and uphold the standards they themselves pioneer, the earth and travelers will thank them.
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