Carnival Corporation, the largest cruise company in the world, announced plans today to invest as much as $400 million to make more than 70 of their cruise ships more environmentally friendly. This is an increase of more than 100% from the original plan of 32 ships back in September 2013.
Carnival’s plan is to increase the installation of “scrubbers”, which help reduce pollution and will help cap sulfur content of fuel oil to 0.1%. Carnival was the first cruise line to install the exhaust gas cleaning scrubbers on their cruise ships. Not only will this significantly reduce air emissions, but it also helps the ships burn less fuel.
The scrubbers will be installed over the next 3 years on 6 different cruise brands. P&O Cruises is currently assessing how the scrubbers can be effective under European Union environmental law.
This past September, Carnival announced that it had adapted a proven exhaust gas cleaning technology called ECO Exhaust Gas Cleaning (ECO-EGC™). This new technology was able to remove major pollutants from the exhaust when the ships were at sea or in port.
Carnival CEO Donald Arnold released the following statement:
This is a key step forward for Carnival Corporation and its 10 brands, and most importantly for the environment. We believe Carnival Corporation’s investment in this industry-leading technology will set a new course in environmental protection and cleaner air for years to come. Increasing environmental sustainability is one of our most important corporate goals, and having the new systems on our ships will be another effective way for us to meet that objective.
The installations of the scrubbers will be on the following cruise brands:
- 22 Carnival Cruise Line
- 9 Holland American Line
- 7 Princess Cruises
- 3 Cunard
- 10 AIDA Cruises
- 6 Costa Cruises
Carnival announced on Earth Day plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20%. The cruise line is on target to reach the goal by 2015 as they have already reduced emissions by 19% since 2005.
A cruise vacation is all about doing a variety of things or absolutely nothing.