Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises announced their 2004 Environmental Ship Of The Year awards…
Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises announced their 2004 Environmental Ship Of The Year awards, with Jewel of the Seas being honored by Royal Caribbean and Constellation being honored by Celebrity.
The annual awards are designed to encourage the two brands` long-standing commitment to environmental innovation and improvement. Competition for the awards assists the cruise lines in progressively advancing their environmental performance in ways that go above and beyond regulatory compliance. Judging for the awards was conducted by the independent external auditing firm CoVeris, which audited 19 Royal Caribbean and nine Celebrity ships for adherence to their Environmental Compliance Plans. This is the sixth annual presentation of the award to a Royal Caribbean ship and the third for a Celebrity ship.
The announcement was made today, during a conference call with both fleets, by Jack Williams, president and chief operating officer of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., and Harri Kulovaara, executive vice president for Maritime.
I congratulate the crew members of both Jewel of the Seas and Constellation for their outstanding achievements, Williams said. I also thank the rest of our employees throughout the fleet for their many efforts to continually improve our environmental performance. Environmental excellence is something we seek on every ship, thanks to the dedication of all our employees.
The selection of the Environmental Ship Of The Year awards was based on six criteria established by Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and their independent external auditors, and covered 2004 operations. The criteria evaluated included audit findings related to environmental performance, timeliness and effectiveness of corrective actions related to audit findings, reports of near incidents and non-conformities, the submission of weekly and monthly environmental status reports, the performance of environmental equipment and innovative thinking.
Jewel of the Seas` crew was praised for effectively dealing with issues related to fresh water and energy consumption, waste minimization and pollution prevention. The ship`s crew installed flow meters to monitor laundry and boiler water usage, crew showers were retrofitted with water conserving showerheads, and the ship`s daily water consumption data was posted for review. Additionally, the ship`s crew was credited for establishing an Energy Saving Committee, comprised of staff from throughout the ship. The committee developed an extensive database related to the implementation of measures designed to conserve energy in navigation, as well as water, fuel and electricity consumption. Waste-minimization efforts included the recycling of clothes hangers, salvaging china and cutlery from the waste stream, reducing onboard printing and more efficiently managing recyclable glass.
Constellation`s management team was praised for its extraordinarily high level of involvement in the oversight of daily environmental matters. The ship`s captain and senior officers were recognized for joining their environmental officer in daily walk-arounds to examine the ship`s environmental systems and their operations. They were also cited for their regular interaction with crew members, from stateroom attendants to those working in the incinerator room and trash sorting room, to determine their understanding of the company`s commitment to environmental protection. The ship`s crew also was cited for aggressively embracing the company`s policy of going Above and Beyond Compliance, which was seen in the exceptional results achieved in various internal and external audits.
Our officers and crew members have shown us, once again, what good environmental stewards of the sea they truly are, Kulovaara said. Their creativity, commitment and accomplishments are a tribute to our process of continuous environmental improvement.
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