MIAMI, July 24 / Three Celebrity Cruises ships were honored today as the world's first ships to receive Lloyd's Register's Environmental Protection Certificates.

The certificates were presented to Richard D. Fain, chairman and chief executive officer of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., parent company of Celebrity Cruises, and Richard E. Sasso, president of Celebrity Cruises. The certificates recognize Celebrity Cruises' compliance with Lloyd's Register's Provisional Rules for Environmental Protection and confirm Celebrity's commitment to ensuring both existing and new ships are operated above and beyond environmental standards.

"Everyone at Celebrity Cruises is very proud to receive this recognition," said Admiral Angelos Argyropoulos, senior vice president of Fleet Operations for Celebrity Cruises. "Our Office of Fleet Operations has worked for two years to reach this day. It is a great accomplishment for all of us. We have great respect for our environment and work very hard to protect it every day. We look forward to continuing those efforts and upholding this honor for years to come."

The Environmental Protection Certificate program was launched by Lloyd's Register in 1998. Celebrity Cruises was the first maritime business to apply for a Certificate, for its ships Century, Galaxy and Mercury.

With today's presentations, in Miami, the three Celebrity ships became the first ships in the world to receive the certificates, after numerous onboard evaluations and audits taking place over eight months in 1999.

The evaluations measured the ships' compliance with requirements for emission levels of nitrogen oxide and sulfur oxide; restricting or prohibiting the use of ozone-depleting refrigerant gases and firefighting media; mandating essentially zero discharges of oily wastes to the sea; treatment or holding of black and grey water; and effective garbage management and disposal.

"It is a great pleasure to present our first-ever Environmental Protection Certificates to Celebrity Cruises," said John Stansfeld, president of Lloyd's Register Americas, Inc. "I hope others in the cruise industry will work as hard as Celebrity to gain this recognition through protecting our environment."

"Receiving these certificates from Lloyd's Register is a testament to years of dedication to, and oversight of, environmental matters by Celebrity's Office of Fleet Operations, their Captains, Environmental Officers and crewmembers," said Nancy Wheatley, senior vice president for Safety and Environment for Celebrity Cruises.

Celebrity Cruises maintains a strong environmental program to ensure a high degree of environmental stewardship. That program consists of three broad areas.

  • Waste reduction: to reduce the amount of wastes generated. This effort includes reducing the amount of materials brought onboard, increasing the use of recycled products, and restricting ships to a limited use of approved chemicals and other products.
  • Recycling: to recycle wastes generated onboard wherever practical. To accomplish this, ships have been modified to facilitate recycling of waste streams that are generated.
  • Proper disposal: to ensure that any remaining wastes are properly disposed. Each ship has extensive programs and an Environmental Officer on duty to assure compliance. As part of this program, the cruise line also reviews and approves a limited list of acceptable environmental contractors to ensure that they are properly handling the material given to them.

Celebrity Cruises is operated by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., a global cruise company that also operates Royal Caribbean International. The brands' combined fleet consists of 18 vessels in service, with 11 additional ships under construction or on firm order. For additional information about Celebrity Cruises or Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., please visit www.celebritycruises.com or .