Royal Caribbean Implementing Environment Protection Measures Across the Fleet

New measures, designed to protect the environment, are being rolled out by Royal Caribbean across their fleet and their subsidiary Celebrity Cruises. The 19 ships of the fleets receiving the new measures will all benefit from new Advanced Emissions Purification (AEP) systems, designed to remove 97% of the sulphur dioxide created by the ships’ diesel engines.

The new measures will be fitted on 13 Royal Caribbean vessels as well as six from Celebrity Cruises, during dry-dockings and vessel services.

The move will position Royal Caribbean ahead of all incoming International Maritime Organisation standards and ensure the vessels are all compliant with European Union standards. The company has decided to add the new features rather than switch to a fuel with a lower sulphur content due to the limited availability of the fuel in certain areas.

Royal Caribbean Cruise president and chief operating officer Adam Goldstein said: “AEP technology for maritime vessels is very new, and we expect that by utilising multiple technological solutions to accommodate the differences among our ships, additional development will ultimately help industrialise AEP technology even more, which will benefit not only RCL but also the larger maritime industry.”

The newest member of the fleet, Quantum of the Seas, will not require a retrofit as it was one of the first vessels in operation to benefit from an AEP system. Similarly, the Liberty of the Seas has already been retrofitted with the technology.

The retrofit has required an incredibly detailed and intricate planning process from Royal Caribbean, and rival cruise lines including Carnival cruise have started planning their own retrofits.

Images sourced via Royal Caribbean Press Center and Flickr Creative Commons. Credits: Woody Hibbard