The International Council of Cruise Lines (ICCL) announced today that its members have unanimously adopted mandatory environmental standards for all of their cruise ships.

The adoption of these standards marks the first time an association of international passenger vessel operators has adopted mandatory waste management practices and procedures.

These standards are based on principles that include: designing and constructing cruise ships to be as environmentally friendly as possible, embracing new technology, complying fully with international and U.S. environmental laws, minimizing waste production, and maintaining cooperative relationships with the regulatory community.

All ICCL member cruise ship operators will implement the adopted standards, which include the following areas:

Graywater and Blackwater discharge.
Hazardous chemical waste such as photo processing fluid and dry-cleaning chemicals.
Unused and outdated pharmaceuticals.
Used batteries
Burned out fluorescent and mercury vapor lamps.
Each ICCL member line will integrate these industry standards into its internationally mandated Safety Management System (SMS), which ensures compliance through internal and third-party audits. Failure to comply with SMS procedures could prevent a ship from operating from U.S. ports. Compliance with these standards is a condition of membership in the ICCL.

"The cruise industry's goal is to ensure that the environmental practices we put together today are the best programs possible for preserving the marine environment," said Michael Crye, president of the ICCL. "These environmental standards show the cruise industry's commitment to the environment by developing new technologies and practices that minimize the impact of cruise ships on the oceans upon which our vessels sail."

The adoption of these environmental standards represents the continuation of a process that will ultimately address all of the maritime issues that were originally proposed in February 2001 by the ICCL Board of Directors. As new waste management and waste processing technologies are developed, they will be incorporated into the ICCL standard.

The adopted environmental mandatory standards are listed on our website at www.iccl.org.

International Council of Cruise Lines

International Council of Cruise Lines

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