AmaWaterways has announced that 18 river cruise ships in its European fleet have earned a prestigious Green Award certification.
The Green Award program is an independent certificate of safety and environmental standards for ocean and river cruise ships. Ships are evaluated on features such as pollution prevention, the environmental impact of their engines, fuel consumption, waste and maintenance.
Ports including Amsterdam, offer substantial benefits to certified ships to promote safer, cleaner inland navigation. Other fleets, including Avalon Waterways, Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection and Amadeus River Cruises have also said they are working on getting their fleets certified under the program. Four ships of Crystal River Cruises have also received the certification.
Among eco-friendly elements of AmaWaterways’ contemporary vessels are LED lighting; special insulated windows that reduce energy needs for heating and cooling and power blocks to plug into a port’s power supply instead of running generators. Water ecology elements include solar heating systems; treatment plants that use a membrane technology to provide microfiltration and recycling of all water used onboard.
Additionally, AmaWaterways continues to evaluate and implement new measures across its fleet to minimize environmental impacts. In efforts to reduce overall plastic consumption, the line has replaced individual single-use toiletries with soap and shampoo dispensers, replaced plastic straws with paper ones, added glass water bottles in all staterooms and continues to test the use of tetra-pak water containers to replace plastic water bottles during excursions.
At twice the width of traditional river cruise ships, the AmaMagna launched in 2019 also debuted an innovative 10-engine configuration designed to reduce overall fuel consumption by up to 20 per cent depending on river conditions.
“While current events may have delayed the start of this year’s sailing season, nothing has diminished our commitment to protecting the rivers that we sail upon.” said Kristin Karst, executive vice-president and co-founder of AmaWaterways. “River cruising is a wonderfully intimate way to explore the world, and we will continue to honor the environment and support the development of communities we visit by introducing innovative ways to minimize our carbon footprint.”
