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New gas scrubber on Liberty of the Seas gets DNV approval

In:
20 Jul 2012

A Green Tech Marine GTM R15 compact exhaust gas scrubber recently installed aboard Royal Caribbean's cruise ship Liberty of the Seas has received a MARPOL "Statement of Compliance" certificate from DNV.

This scrubber has shown that the measurements of exhaust gas emission and wash water criteria have been shown to be well below the required limits stated in the MEPC guideline 184(59). This will ensure Liberty of the Seas is compliant with the 0.1 percent sulfur limit that will be required in ECAs from 2015.

Beyond the efficient removal of SOx and other particles, the GTM R15 offers a number of advantages over other scrubbers, such as its minimal footprint requirement and low weight. It is also energy efficient, requiring virtually no external chemicals and allowing for installation during operation.

The GTM R15 that Green Tech Marine and Royal Caribbean are pilot testing was installed onboard Liberty of the Seas while the ship was in service. The compact design required no extra space as the scrubber replaced the ship's exhaust silencer.

Prior to the shipboard pilot, a preliminary scrubber test was performed shore side in Norway for 11 months. After several visits to analyze the scrubber's performance, Royal Caribbean committed to a pilot test.

Over the next 4-6 months Green Tech will continue to test the GTM R15 onboard Liberty of the Seas to demonstrate that the scrubber can be operated continuously over a sustained period of time and maintain the same positive results as the initial tests achieved.

Royal Caribbean joins in defense of the ocean at United Nations

In:
16 Jun 2012

The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development devotes part of the program this Saturday to discussing the oceans, with a series of conferences to promote protection of the seas and the commitments to prevent the deterioration of this source of life and maintain their productivity .

These commitments are reflected in the "Declaration of the oceans healthy and productive to help reduce poverty," Rio +20 in which received support from various entities, including some of the largest purchase of marine products in the world with more than business $ 6 billion annually.

Royal Caribbean is among these including others such as Costco, Darden Restaurants, High Liner Foods Inc. and Icelandic Group.

Countries that have expressed support for the alliance are Australia, Iceland, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea, Fiji, Jamaica, Kiribati, Palau, Samoa, Seychelles, and the U.S. Agency for Development USAID.

Royal Caribbean recognized by Port of Seattle for environmental achievement

In:
20 Feb 2012

Royal Caribbean was among the winners of this year's Green Gateway Partners Award by the Port of Seattle for its "comprehensive environmental achievements".

The Green Gateway Partners Awards set as a minimum requirement participation in the Port’s At-Berth Clean Fuels programme or use of shore power.

These and other environmental activities are assigned point values. Depending on the number of points earned, Green Gateway Partners can achieve one of three recognition levels – gold, silver or bronze. The awards and scoring system were done by a third party.

“These maritime operators demonstrate by their actions every day that you can be good environmental stewards while contributing to our economy,” said Tay Yoshitani, CEO of the Port of Seattle. “We look forward to honouring more of our customers in the future.”

Royal Caribbean among first companies to join to promote Green Tourism

In:
04 Feb 2012

Royal Caribbean is among the first major companies to embrace the standards set forth by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council.

The council recently commended companies such as Royal Caribbean for being among "the first group of global travel and tourism corporations to publicly commit to promoting sustainable tourism products and services recognized by the GSTC."

The council's mission is to foster sustainable tourism and travel practices, and the organization considers its criteria as "the worldwide minimum requirements for tourism businesses of all size to approach sustainability."

Royal Caribbean wins Marine Environment Protection Award

In:
18 Nov 2011

Royal Caribbean won the 2011 Marine Environment Protection Award from the North American Marine Environment Protection Association in recognition of Royal Caribbean’s efforts on behalf of preserving the marine environment as exemplified by a commitment to a program which has specific objectives set for environmental performance and improvement, and which is innovative and goes beyond minimum environmental compliance.

Royal Caribbean Vice President Global Corporate Communications, Michele Nadeem, was gracious in accepting the award, "It is an honor to be recognized by NAMEPA for our commitment to protect, conserve and support the environment. This award is for all the many Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd. employees both on shore and on our ships for all of our brands, Azamara Club Cruises, Celebrity Cruises and Royal Caribbean International, who work tirelessly to protect the marine environment. They are fully committed to caring for the unique and beautiful places we visit throughout the world."

The judges commented “Royal Caribbean's efforts to educate their passengers through their comprehensive program "Save the Waves" program deserves special attention”, “Save the Waves program is changing "Hearts and Minds"...and preserving the marine environment for future generations to enjoy”; “Royal Caribbean's robust fuel consumption reduction and waste recycling programs have yield excellent results in reduced in GHG and shoreside disposal”; “Royal Caribbean’s commitment and efforts in protecting the environment clearly follow the ABCs...Above Basic Compliance.”

Royal Caribbean awarded Marine Environment Protection Award

In:
05 Oct 2011

The North American Marine Environment Protection Association (NAMEPA) has awarded Royal Caribbean NAMEPA’s 2011 Marine Environment Protection Award.

Royal Caribbean won the award for in recognition of the cruise line's efforts for preserving the marine environment as exemplified by a commitment to a program which has specific objectives set for environmental performance and improvement, and which is innovative and goes beyond minimum environmental compliance.  Specifically, the judges noted Royal Caribbean's Save the Waves program as helping to change "Hearts and Minds" of its guests.

The 2011 Marine Environment Protection Award will be presented at NAMEPA’s Awards Dinner to be held in New York following NAMEPA’s seminar on Corporate Risk Management, which will focus on the need of the maritime industry to evaluate risk in a challenging operating environment.

Royal Caribbean's vice president of Environmental Stewardship, Jamie Sweeting, spoke about accepting the award, "We are delighted that the North American Marine Environment Protection Association has awarded Royal Caribbean with the 2011 Marine Environment Protection Award.  Royal Caribbean is dedicated to helping to protect the marine environment, and we are committed to caring for the unique and beautiful places we visit throughout the world. It is an honor to be recognized by NAMEPA for our commitment to protect, conserve and support the environment."

Royal Caribbean brings to Spain its environmental policies

In:
29 Aug 2011

Can a floating city of 6,000 passengers per week touring holiday and not leave behind a sea of ​​waste? Cruise companies fight tooth and nail that they follow environmental policies, and ensure that they meet international standards even with the challenge of being sustainable and non-polluting by the account that brings. Only in Spain, in the first half of the year there have been 3.2 million cruise passengers, 17.7% more than the same period of 2010, a total of 1,632 large ships. And the craze for this type of trip, relatively new in Europe, has for decades sweeping the United States.

Each cruise company usually develops its own sustainability plans. One of the largest in the world, Royal Caribbean, said that for 40 years have implemented various measures "to protect the environment," but it was in 1992 when they launched the Save the Waves program, focusing on the "reduce, reuse and recycling waste" in all vessels in its fleet.Royal Caribbean monitors their ships pollution (managing the tons of garbage produced daily) and strictly prohibiting passengers to throw any litter overboard. In fact there are cameras that could determine from which little cabin is thrown into the sea.

Royal Caribbean places posters in the restrooms asking not to throw the towels on the floor unless changes are required to avoid unnecessary washing and reduce pollution.

Royal Caribbean has on its ships an environmental program officer, whose duty it is to instruct the crew about managing waste. Royal Caribbean's procedures were the first certified ISO 14001 in the sector.

Royal Caribbean partnering with Central Caribbean Marine Institute to understand climate change on coral reefs

In:
22 Jul 2011

Royal Caribbean's Ocean Fund is partnering with the Central Caribbean Marine Institute (CCMI), the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation and the Image Group to create a reference site never attempted before where the correlation between climate change and coral reef stress can be measured directly.

This new group is being headed up by Dr. Carrie Manfrino, an  Associate Professor of Oceanography at Kean University and CCMIs Director of Research and Conservation.

The study is setting out to determine the exact effect of rising temperatures and sea levels have on the stress coral reefs experience and if it is beyond sustainability.

The hope is the data collected will give scientists a better idea of the immediate effects of the changes on the coral reefs as well as help reef managers understand these threats so that they can more effectively conserve coral reefs and their associated flora and fauna.

Royal Caribbean using new technology to help environment

In:
22 Jul 2011

Royal Caribbean discussed some of its environmental policies with the Sun Sentinel to help show their committment to reducing Royal Caribbean's environmental "foot print".

Royal Caribbean claims its cold storage room aboard Oasis of the Seas is the largest cold storage room of any ship in the world.  The cold storage room can be used to store many of the recycled items on the ship, such as hazardous waste, incinerator ash and cooking oil.

In addition, Royal Caribbean installed new photo kiosks to reduce paper waste from photos that were never purchased.  Royal Caribbean's Associate Vice President of Environmental Programs thinks the kiosks make sense, "Being environmentally-friendly is good business and every organization should strive to cut the amount of waste in their business".

Oasis of the Seas is also equipped with an advanced hull design with ecological coatings that reduce the water resistance of the ship, which has an effect of reducing the amoung of fuel needed.  Oasis also has an advanced energy management system to conserve power usage, and thin-film solar panels on its top deck.

Modern hull designs can result in up to 15 percent energy savings and ecological hull coatings up to five percent, according to the Fort Lauderdale-based trade group Cruise Lines International Association.

Pruitt said the Oasis is about 25 percent more energy-efficient than older ships in Royal Caribbean's fleet.

Royal Caribbean selects Emsys Emissions Monitoring System for the Independence of the Seas

In:
20 Jun 2011

Royal Caribbean has awarded WR Systems the right to supply its Emsys (Emissions Monitoring System) to Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas ship.

The Emsys system will monitor performance and provide emissions compliance data for an EcoSpec Exhaust Gas Cleaning System. This new tech will be installed sometime in mid-2011.  This is a test program to see if it can be implemented fleet wide to reduce Royal Caribbean's environmental footprint.

The Emsys system is based on solid-state Laser technology and has been awarded full Type Approval from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) in line with the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) MARPOL Annex VI NOx Regulations, and the IMO Exhaust Gas Cleaning System Guidelines. The system also carries the MED wheelmark.

The Emsys system is unique in that it includes the first sensor that can measure Particulate Matter that is "outside of the stack".  This is important because it reduces the capital cost and eliminates the need to install sensitive measurement equipment in each of the monitored exhaust stacks. The integral Particulate Matter sensor has been developed to meet the requirements of the forthcoming US 'Emissions Control Area' (ECA) regulations, where Particulate Matter has been included in the regulatory language.

Royal Caribbean's Senior Vice President of Marine Operations, William S. Wright, chose Emsys because of its low maintenance and high accuracy capabilities, "It is important for RCL to demonstrate, with the highest accuracy and traceability, the emissions reduction performance of the EcoSpec emissions abatement system. As part of our on-going environmental commitment to reduce our air emissions, the Emsys system can provide the necessary data for both compliance purposes and our own internal technology evaluation criteria".

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