Costa Cruises, part of Carnival Corporation, issued its sustainability report for 2016, informing that it achieved to reduce carbon footprint by 5%, SOx emissions by 9% and NOx and PM10 emissions by 4%, compared with the previous year.
According to the report, entitled “Sea you tomorrow”, the decrease in emissions was accomplished thanks to the implementation of the ECO Exhaust Gas Cleaning (ECO-EGCTM) system, the use of cleaner (low sulfur) fuels in Emission Control Areas (ECAs), the investment in LNG propulsion systems.
The reduction in fuel consumption was achieved by using shipboard diesel generators at sea and in port, technology to increase the amount of waste heat recovered from engine cooling water and frequency converters for electric engines for ventilators, among others.
The Company’s is also committed in water conservation and recycling, with the gradual increase in the amount of water produced directly on board. Indeed, most of the water on the ships for human use is produced on board by means of special desalination plants. The percentage of water generated on board from seawater varies from ship to ship depending on a range of factor such as the itinerary, cruising speed, sea and weather conditions, and the type of equipment installed.
In 2016, 66.2% of the water used was produced in this way, compared with 69% the previous reporting period; the decrease was mainly due to the introduction of new cruise routes.
Moreover, in 2016 important was the sighting of whales and other marine mammals. In July 2016, Costa Cruises was the first shipping company to join the Whalesafe Protocol of Conduct to protect sperm whales.
Explore more by reading the full report:
