Carnival Close to 20% Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Carnival is equipping its vessels with scrubbers and other eco-friendly improvements

Cruise operator Carnival Corp. & Plc. (Carnival) says it will meet its 2015 goal for the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

"Carnival has made the amount of GHG emissions released an indicator of our environmental improvement, and we are focused every day on finding innovative ways to cut down on these emissions," said Jim Van Langen, vice president of management systems. 

"Carnival has already reduced its emissions by more than 19 percent since 2005 and we are likely to exceed our goal of 20 percent by 2015"

To meet the goal of reducing the rate of shipboard GHG emissions by 20 percent, the company's 10 brands have developed "aggressive energy reduction and conservation initiatives," often beyond what is called for in current regulations, the company said.

The company announced in September that it would use exhaust gas scrubbers to reduce emissions and meet Emission Control Area (ECA) standards, and it is now installing the systems on its fleet.

The company said last month that it expects to have the systems on 20 or more vessels by the end of the year.

In addition, Carnival said 20 percent of its fleet now has cold ironing equipments, allowing them to connect to shore power systems at port, and all ships are certified to ISO 14001 standards for environmental management systems.

The company is in the process of installing Advanced Waste Water Treatment Systems, with 48 of its 101 ships now using the technology.

Carnival's AIDA Cruises brand is also adopting the Mitsubishi Air Lubrication Systems (MALS) system to improve hydrodynamics and reduce fuel use, and the brand is also working with Becker Marine Systems on a liquefied natural gas (LNG) hybrid barge that is set to start operations in Hamburg this year as an alternative to shore-power for cold ironing.