Furthering NCL’s continued commitment to the environment, NCL Corporation recently completed a first-of-its-kind initiative at the Port of Miami to recycle used cooking oil from Norwegian Jewel and Norwegian Pearl. Approximately 1,300 gallons of used cooking oil were offloaded and donated to an organic farmer in Vero Beach, Fla., who converted the oil to 870 gallons of usable bio-diesel for his farming equipment.
“We are extremely pleased that despite many logistical hurdles, we could make this donation and put our used cooking oil to good use,” said Bill Hamlin, NCL’s executive vice president of fleet operations. “This was a concerted effort amongst our environmental staff, various departments at the Port of Miami and our ground operations team. Our plan is to continue this effort when our ships return to Miami this fall.”
In Hawai`i, all NCL and NCL America ships have been offloading their used cooking oil for recycling to bio-diesel. The company recycled approximately 40,000 gallons of used cooking oil last year in Hawai`i.
In addition, NCL continues its oily residual recycling program in Alaska, Hawai`i, British Columbia, New York, Miami and Charleston where its residual oil is offloaded and often recycled. The program entails taking a waste product and converting it into a marketable product. This is done with enhanced management of the various types of oily residuals generated onboard and partnering with waste oil treatment facilities on land.
Waste oil on board is generated from several sources: fuel oil separation which removes contaminants and water from the fuel prior to combustion in the main engines; lube oil separation which removes impurities from the engine lubricants; the treatment of oily bilge water; spent lube oil from the main engines; and spent cooking oil.
In the past, the marine industry has commingled these waste streams in a “sludge’ tank onboard the ship. This “sludge” or oily waste is pumped ashore as a waste product for treatment and eventually recycled or it is burned aboard as a waste material. Instead of a waste product, NCL provides a marketable oil product directly to the secondary oil market via company partners like Peninsula Waste Water Services in Victoria, BC and Cliff Berry, Inc. in south Florida. This is accomplished by designating tanks on board, separating the various types of oils and installing new equipment to better filter/dewater these oily residuals. NCL’s partners on land provide oil transportation services and, most importantly, the criteria or specification for oily residues to be considered a marketable product in that region.
The used oil market has recognized high quality oily residuals generated by the marine industry as a viable product. These oils typically require no treatment and are sent as direct shipments into the marketplace; mainly as fuel for industrial processes.
NCL Corporation Ltd. is an innovative cruise company headquartered in Miami, Florida, with a fleet of 14 ships in service and under construction. The corporation oversees the operations of Norwegian Cruise Line, NCL America, and Orient Lines. The company recently took delivery of its newest ship, Norwegian Pearl, and is currently building Norwegian Gem for delivery in October of 2007.
In addition, NCL plans to build up to three new third generation Freestyle Cruising ships for delivery between 2009 and 2011. NCL is on target to have the youngest fleet in the industry by the end of 2007, providing guests the opportunity to enjoy the flexibility of Freestyle Cruising on the newest, most contemporary ships at sea.
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