The cruise industry has undertaken significant investments in order to ensure the next generation of cruise ships are even more environmentally friendly. Industry professionals will discuss the future of green cruising at this year’s Seatrade Europe, the leading trade event of the European cruise and river cruise industry.
Seatrade Europe will open doors from 9 to 11 September 2015 at Hamburg Messe. There will be a session led by the Global Maritime Environmental Congress (gmec) on Thursday 10 September 2015 from 1430-1600 hrs, discussing the legal framework for cruise operators in the EU. Topics will include the implementation of the new sulfur limits in the North and Baltic Sea as well as alternative energy sources for cruise ships.
Multi-stage waste gas purification systems, designed to reduce nitrogen oxides, soot particulates and sulfur oxides are increasingly featuring on cruise ships and pushing the envelope even further, newbuilds using LNG in dual-powered hybrid engines to power both in port and on the open sea eliminating emissions of soot particles and sulfur oxides, have recently been contracted.
As cruise vessels themselves spend around 40% of their time in ports, CLIA and its member cruise lines are playing a proactive role to ensure that onshore power supply facilities in ports are extended. Hamburg, the host city of Seatrade Europe, is building an onshore power supply facility for cruise ships at the Altona terminal.
“The cruise industry is a pioneer for environmental protection. In recent years, the industry has invested in research into and implementing new initiatives into reducing the volume of garbage, waste water and air emissions. Not only do we comply with legal requirements, but we often go beyond, for instance in the field of purifying waste water,” says Raphael von Heermann, secretary general for the CLIA Europe.
