North West and Canada Cruise Association

New and advancing technologies

Challenges associated with large ocean-going vessels and environ­mental stewardship seem end­less. Which environmental initiative is the most important? Surely they are all important. What is being addressed with the technology we already have; how will new technologies and ship de­sign continue to meet the challenge?

Big questions, and make no mistake, numerous stakeholders — policy-mak­ers, ship owners, naval architects, class societies, etc. contribute to answering and researching these questions, pro­viding technical and other input.

Every aspect of a cruise ship’s oper­ation is open to environmental assess­ment. From store packaging to waste disposal (water, garbage, paper), to air emissions, ballast water, deck washing and pool water, the list seems endless.

How have things changed, what changes are yet to come? Over the past decade or so, cruise has been at the fore­front of much of the research and de­velopment into the current technology, including advanced wastewater treat­ment systems, recycling programs, and shore power partnerships. Aboard the Carnival Spirit, the line has installed a black/grey water Rochem system that uses ultra-filtration membranes to treat grey and black water to a level that would render it usable for toilet flush­ing, laundry and deck washing

New announcements include the MSC Cruises’ Divina which, when chris­tened in May 2012, will sport cutting edge, technological changes, including a new reverse osmosis system for fresh water production that requires 40 per cent less power for operation, reducing the ship’s environmental impact.

So what is the initiative that is at the forefront of new ship design and existing ship refits?

The IMO estimates international shipping contributes about 2.7 per cent of global CO2 emissions. Accordingly, they note that the world fleet of ships of 100 gt and above numbers more than 100,000. Of that, it is estimated that there are approximately 230 cruise ships engaged in international shipping.  Emissions from cruise liners start to look like a small proportion given that context.

Even so, cruise operators are tak­ing various steps to reduce their emis­sions deploying new technology and fine-tuning their operations. Many of these steps are small and tend to focus on energy efficiency. That’s because, as Bud Darr, director of environment­al and health programs, Cruise Lines International Association, explains, “The reality is that most of our ship­board energy needs are being met by way of consuming fossil fuels. Like most of society, this results in anthropogenic contribution to greenhouse gas loading in the atmosphere.”

The following is a cross section of areas where new technology and effi­ciencies are being used:

New engines

Allure of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas (Royal Caribbean) have engines using common-rail injection, a variant of direct fuel injection that gives bet­ter load control and combustion than older diesel engines, reducing NOx emissions. This is also being used by Royal Caribbean’s subsidiary company, Celebrity Cruises. Other ships are be­ing fitted with diesel-electric hybrid en­gines, which are said to use 20 per cent less fuel than comparable diesel-only ships.

More efficient hulls are said to reduce resistance and give energy savings of up to 15 to 20 per cent.

At the exhaust end, in 2011, Royal Caribbean is installing an exhaust gas cleaning system from Ecospec Global Technology on its ship, Independence of the Seas. In a 2009 test on a tanker, the electrolysis-based technology was said to have removed 99 per cent of the SOx, 66 per cent of the NOx and 77 per cent of the CO2 from its exhaust. Holland America Lines continues to fine tune the seawater scrubber system installed on the Zaandam with early tests show­ing it removes up to 75 per cent of SO2 and 57 per cent of the particulate mat­ter emitted by the ship’s diesel.

Fuel-wise, Carnival is using low-sulphur fuel on voyages in environ-mentally sensitive areas, such as Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska and Venice, and within three nautical miles of the California shoreline.

Disney’s newest ship, Disney Dream, features a newly designed inward turn­ing propeller and an innovative twisted flap rudder that work together to reduce demands on the propulsion system, in­creasing efficiency.

Optimized hulls / anti-foul coatings

More hydro-dynamically efficient hulls, with a protruding bulb at the bow and a ducktail design at the stern, are said to reduce resistance and give energy savings of up to 15 to 20 per cent. ‘Foul release’ silicone hull coatings also cut resistance by lowering friction and resisting barnacle formation on the hull. Disney Cruise Lines claims a first here, on its Disney Wonder, and Carnival, Celebrity and MSC Cruises use it too.

All Disney ships feature a low resist­ance, 100 per cent non-toxic hull coat­ing that reduces surface resistance in open waters.

Heating, air-con and refrigeration

Carnival uses heat generated by its ships’ engines to heat water instead of relying on the boilers. It has also been testing an oil additive in chillers on­board the Carnival Legend, which is expected to reduce energy used in the chillers circuit by 10 per cent.

On MSC’s Poesia, passengers’ cruise cards double as the on / off switch for electricity and air-conditioning in their cabins.

Royal Caribbean ships have tinted windows to keep the ships cooler and reduce the load on air-con systems, as do Cunard’s new Queen Elizabeth and Celebrity vessels. Celebrity also uses chilled river rocks instead of ice in its buffets to cut the amount of water and energy needed to turn the water into ice.

In addition, most Celebrity Millennium-class and Royal Caribbean Radiance-class ships can use Alaskan and Baltic seawater to chill water in­stead of running air-con compressors, saving about four to five tonnes of fuel per ship per day when operating in these waters.

Technology is used onboard the Disney Dream for accurate energy management, focused on maximizing the heating, ventilation and cooling systems. The system recognizes when public spaces will be in demand and measures temperatures, humidity and CO2 to ensure comfortable conditions based on occupancy. As part of this sys­tem, guest staterooms self-adjust when unoccupied and return to the desired temperature upon the guests’ return.

LED and fluorescent lighting

Across its fleet, Carnival is fitting compact fluorescent and LED bulbs that, it says, will potentially save about $100,000 annually in energy costs per ship. Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth uses them as well, plus twilight sensors that switch deck lighting off at dawn, and on again at dusk.

Arrivals / departures

A number of operators, including Carnival and RCL, tweak their arrival and departure times at ports according to routes, currents and weather pat­terns, to reduce fuel consumption.

Onshore power

Princess Cruises pioneered the use of shore power with the first installation in Juneau, Alaska. Based on the success of this project, other ports followed — Vancouver and Seattle — where both Princess and Holland America Line “plug-in”. The installation of shore power is expanding on the West Coast to San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles, and beyond to New York / Brooklyn on the East Coast.

Solar panels

Celebrity is installing solar panels on its newest ships for powering on­board components such as LED lights. The Celebrity Solstice launched with 80 panels; Celebrity Equinox was built with 216. The Solstice’s panels power systems such as elevators, and while Celebrity accepts solar is not currently a cost-effective addition, it says as prices decrease, the onboard infrastructure will be in place to carry more of the technology.

There are various other measures such as regular cleaning of hulls and propel­lers, and recycling used cooking oil in port into biodiesel, and taken together, these changes add up to a measurable reduction in cruise liners’ environmental impact and use of existing and emerging technologies. For example, according to its 2010 Stewardship Report, Royal Caribbean (which owns Celebrity, among others) cut its fuel consumption by 4.7 per cent, and greenhouse gas emissions by 5.5 per cent, per average passenger cruise day (APCD) on 2009 levels. Since 2005, it says it has cut fuel consumption by about 13.5 per cent and is commit­ted to cutting emissions by one-third on 2005 levels per APCD by 2015.

Meanwhile, Carnival — which owns HAL, Cunard and Princess, among others — says in its most recent sus­tainability report (2009) that it cut fuel consumption by 1.5 per cent on 2008 levels and aims to cut CO2 emissions from a 2005 level of 173 g/nm to 151 g/ nm by 2015.

While these sets of figures may not be directly comparable, and many critics continue to argue that cruise operators still have some way to go, it does give an indication of the efforts the indus­try has gone to, and continues to work towards.

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