Norwegian Jewel completes hybrid scrubber system retrofit

SEPTEMBER 13, 2016 — Norwegian Cruise Line today reported successful completion of the retrofitting of a new exhaust gas scrubber system on Norwegian Jewel, aimed at significantly reducing air emissions and the ship’s environmental footprint.

Norwegian says it is the first cruise line to retrofit a vessel while it is in service with a hybrid exhaust gas scrubber system.

Norwegian Jewel’s new lightweight in-line scrubbers are a hybrid technology developed by Oslo, Norway, headquartered Yara Marine Technologies that are able to operate in dry mode, open loop and closed loop.

Five scrubbers were installed, one per engine, covering the whole propulsion system. Collectively, they are capable of reducing the emission of sulfur to air up to 99 percent and also reduce 85 percent particulate emission, pollutants, to the air.

Norwegian Jewel’s new technology will reduce the equivalent of approximately 1,500 tons of sulfur oxide (SOx) gas in the years to come as a result of this new technology.

A two year project, Norwegian Jewel’s retrofitting began in spring 2014 and featured more than 100,000 man hours between numerous partner organizations to be completed.

“Norwegian is firmly dedicated to upholding the highest standards of excellence in environmental protection practices, as well as leading the industry in seeking out technology that makes our ships not only an enjoyable vacation experience, but also ensures that we continuously protect the environment that our guests love to explore” said Robin Lindsay, Executive Vice President of Vessel Operations for Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.

Norwegian is the first cruise line to install scrubbers with a state-of-the-art water membranes filtration unit. This sophisticated water cleaning system uses ultrafiltration technology to clean the recirculated water during the closed loop operation down to clear water. The by-product is collected and removed in drums.

Norwegian’s Safety and Environmental Protection Policy establishes several objectives relating to the environment, which include reducing the impact of its operations on the environment, disposing garbage and waste materials in accordance with national and international rules and regulations, recycling and re-using materials and establishing specific objectives and targets for continual improvement of environmental management programs.

Norwegian currently has three of ships outfitted with gas scrubber technology, with Norwegian Jewel joining Norwegian Escape and Pride of America.

Norwegian Cruise Line says it is on track to meet its MARPOL Annex VI compliance goal of reducing its global sulfur cap from 3.5 percent to 0.5 percent by 2020.

Norwegian Jewel’s sister ships, Norwegian Pearl and Norwegian Gem, will complete their scrubber commissioning within the coming weeks with Norwegian Jade and Norwegian Sun scheduled for retrofitting in the first and second quarter of 2017, respectively.