International Association (which includes the vast majority these days). Members of these associations are highly proactive in their efforts to minimise all forms of pollution when at sea. They follow strict voluntary environmental standards for wastewater and recycling in particular. Some have even gone a step further, installing
environmental equipment such as grinders for food and product waste; recycling packagers; crushers for glass and aluminium; incinerators or pulping systems for food, cardboard, paper and other waste by-products; and sophisticated engine room equipment to reduce or eliminate oil leakage. Others are now using marine mapping for ecosystem preservation and building relationships with communities in their destination areas. Hurtigruten’s voyages to destinations such as Antarctica, Greenland and Spitsbergen are on its new ship MS Fram. The ship has an ice-classed hull to reduce the risk of grounding/oil spill. Many cruise vessels are also small in terms of their passenger numbers and this, too, is on the plus side to help your eco credentials. For example, the world’s largest liner, Oasis of the Seas, has a crew of 2,100 and a passenger compliment in excess of 6,000. Compare that to Royal Clipper, the eco sailing cruiser with 105 crew and 227 passengers, and you can see straight
away that when it comes to being green, size really does matter in the cruise industry. Timing the arrival and
departure schedules of the larger ships so they use less fuel while docking is another factor helping to make
schedules more environmen- tally effi cient, and travelling at
lower speeds for fuel effi ciency is increasingly common. P&O Cruises, for example, are lowering their energy consumption
every year by three to four per cent through a variety of solutions from new paints and hull coatings to simply slowing the ships down. Cruise-ferry operator DFDS has invested in sea data systems so they can look at currents, storms and tides to get the optimal route planning to save fuel whilst the hull is cleaned more often and they no longer have all their auxiliary engines running whilst in port. They are currently testing
THE OVERSEER
Bill Gibbons, director of the UK’s Passenger Shipping Association: “The health of the world’s oceans is vital to the success of the cruise industry, which is continually raising the bar on environmental performance.
“Cruise companies have made substan- tial investments in technology and operating practices, including innovative ship design, multi- million pound invest- ment in state-of-the-art wastewater treatment systems and the adop- tion of waste manage- ment, recycling and disposal programmes. “The drive to
reduce the industry’s environmental impact also includes simple actions that passengers may notice, such as energy-effi cient LED light bulbs, high effi ciency appliances and solar panels that reduce energy consumption, along with environmental stewardship videos for passengers to learn how they can protect the environment while on holiday.
“PSA members are committed to preserving the
environment and will continue to make every effort to minimise the impact from passenger shipping.”
Summer 2010 I WORLD OF CRUISING 33
Above: The Svalbard wilderness is tainted by beaches littered with empty oil drums, fi shnets and other waste. Guests are invited to take part in collecting rubbish on one of Hurtigruten’s cruises.
Bales have a range of low-impact cruises like their 19th century-style river sailboats on the Nile.
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