Everyday, nearly 60,000 passengers sail the world's seas on Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. ships, each ship with the infrastructure to maintain its complex operations. Every vessel must address a host of environmental factors, including water; wastewater; solid, hazardous, and special wastes; fuel bunkering and storage; and air pollution control. Committed to pollution prevention and superior environmental performance, Royal Caribbean established the cruise industry's first comprehensive ISO 14001-certified environmental management system (EMS) and environmental officer (EO) training program. Within 3 years, total waste was reduced by 89 percent.
The EMS and EO training program set the cruise industry's standard in environmental stewardship, facilitating greater reduction in waste, environmental impacts, and fuel consumption each year.
Specialized EO training empowers successful management of environmental processes and facilitates fleet-wide performance. EOs--responsible for each ship's environmental systems--train crews in all aspects of environmental management and serve as advisors to shipboard management and vital links to shoreside departments. Training reinforces best practices, compliance and organizational improvements, treatment processes, and critical record keeping procedures and ensures continued improvement of the EMS.