Captain Mike Kaczmarek, vice president, Carnival Corporate Shipbuilding. Photo by Andy Newman/Carnival Cruise Lines
A three-year study conducted by Carnival has found that scrubber is “effective and safe for the ocean environment”, Vessel Performance Optimization reports.
The February 22 newsletter quotes Ian Adams, executive director, of Clean Shipping Alliance (CSA) 2020, who explains that the study compared “281 washwater samples from 53 scrubber-equipped cruise ships to generate the largest washwater data set in the marine industry. The samples were assessed against 54 different test parameters by ISO accredited independent laboratories. The scrubber results compared favourably with all of these standards”.
The samples analysed were consistently well within the allowable IMO criteria and regulatory limits, notes the VPO report. The results were further compared with selected national and international water quality standards and land-based washwater discharge limits to serve as study benchmark standards, it explains.
Mike Kaczmarek, Carnival’s senior vice president, Marine Technology, said: “Comparing scrubber wash water to various other major water standards is useful to provide perspective and to illustrate EGCS wash water quality in a way that is easy to understand. These comparisons also provide relatable criteria for a number of specific EGCS parameters of interest, such as PAH concentrations, which also have limits within these standards.
The results reaffirm that exhaust gas cleaning systems are effective and safe for the ocean environment, Mr. Kaczmarek added.
