Following recent adverse publicity on its vessels’ emissions, Carnival Corp has launched a new dedicated Advanced Air Quality Systems website.
This features relevant background information, videos, animations, photos and graphics to highlight the environmental benefits of using exhaust gas cleaning systems or scrubbers on board ship.
As part of Carnival Corp’s commitment to sustainable operations, Advanced Air Quality Systems enable overall cleaner air emissions from ships both at port and at sea.
These systems have been proved to be safe and effective solutions for compliance with IMO2020 regulations for sulfur, while also meeting international air and water quality standards.
The new website features key facts, figures and performance results that detail how these systems work in the small confines of a cruise ship, using sea water to remove virtually all the sulfur from engine exhaust, preventing it from entering the atmosphere, improving air emissions and supporting sustainable operations in the global shipping industry.
These systems have been used for decades on land as an effective way to significantly reduce sulfur oxide (SOx) and particulate matter produced by a engine.
As part of its commitment to developing innovative solutions that support sustainable operations, Carnival Corp began pioneering this technology in 2006, enabling these systems to operate efficiently and effectively in the small confines of a cruise ship.
“Our Advanced Air Quality Systems are an important part of our strategy to improve air quality in port and at sea, a strategy that also includes the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG), shore power and marine gasoil (MGO),” said Mike Kaczmarek, senior vice president for marine technology for Carnival Corp. “Due to the success we have had improving air quality with these systems, we decided to launch a dedicated website to help educate the public on the environmental benefits of Advanced Air Quality Systems and their effectiveness as a solution for meeting and exceeding the upcoming IMO regulations, while we continue to expand the technology throughout our fleet.”
As of July, 2019, the company had installed over 220 systems on 77 of the more than 100 ships in its fleet, with a goal of installing nearly 400 scrubber systems over time in its multi-engine ships. By 2020, the company expects 85% of its global fleet to be fitted with systems at an investment of over $500 mill.
The website also features a number of third-party scientific studies that further validate that these systems improve air quality and exceed major air and water quality standards with no adverse impact on the environment.
A new study, that includes third-party analysis by DNV GL, showed that Advanced Air Quality Systems are a safe and effective means for compliance with the IMO’s 2020 requirements on the global shipping fleet, which include regulations for cleaner air emissions and strict wash water quality standards.
The study concluded that the wash water samples from the systems were below the limits set by several major national and international water quality and land-based water discharge standards, which provides further proof of the quality and safety of the wash water, even when compared to criteria like the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) drinking water guidelines.
In fact, when measured against IMO standards, the average wash water test results in this study were over 90% lower than IMO limits. In the majority of samples, the materials were completely undetectable in the laboratory testing process.
Other benefits of the technology are highlighted on the new site, including that extensive testing has confirmed that the systems in many ways outperform low sulfur MGO in providing cleaner overall air emissions from ships. The systems remove almost all of the sulfur from engine exhaust and about 75% of all particulate matter (PM), and they are especially effective in removing small particulates.
In addition, studies showed that exhaust from these systems has proportionally less PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and lower nitrous oxide (NOx) when compared to MGO emissions.
