Day one at Passenger Ship Sustainability in Southampton was ripe with discussion about the future environmental look of the cruise industry.

Tom Strang, senior vice president of maritime affairs for Carnival Corporation, was among the featured speakers.

Strang pointed out that Carnival is committed to developing a group-wide strategy for LNG supply for its next generation of LNG-powered cruise ships.

He said Carnival buys 3.3 million metric tons of fuel per year, and has an aggressive 2020 goal when it comes to sustainability and cutting emissions, which will be accomplished by a mix of LNG, exhaust gas cleaning systems, cold ironing and investing in new technology on existing ships.

He said plans are ahead of schedule for the most part.

Exhaust gas cleaning systems have been installed on 64 ships. Thirty-six ships have been fitted for shorepower, while eight have partial installations, and 16 newbuilds have the footprint to install it if their operational needs call for it.

As for LNG, Strang said it had the best emissions profile of any fossil fuel that will meet 2020 emissions deadlines.

Carnival’s Project LNG-powered ships will run on Caterpillar power, with enough LNG capacity for a trans-Atlantic crossing.

Of the current Carnival Corporation orderbook, the company has seven LNG-powered vessels scheduled for delivery between 2018 and 2022. The AIDAnova will be the first, delivered at the end of 2018.

For MSC Cruises, Yves Bui, LNG project director, presented the company’s in-development LNG (fuel) bunkering solution, which offers an unique double-barrier across the entire bunkering operation for safe operations.

The Port of Barcelona not only plans to offer LNG as a fuel, but will offer discount to ships that are powered by it, according to Sergi Ros, from the port’s planning department.

Other topics included fuel cells, energy savings at ports, ballast water regulations and ongoing public health concerns.

Of note, the conference chair was Richard Vie, former vice president of technical development and quality assurance at Carnival Corporation.