Port Metro Vancouver and cruise ships keep Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter
Games green

VANCOUVER , Jan. 8 /CNW/ - Port Metro Vancouver will soon welcome cruise ships from Holland America Line , Carnival Cruise Lines and Norwegian Cruise Lines to Vancouver as they arrive to provide accommodation for tourists and security forces.

"We are very pleased to welcome our cruise industry partners back to Vancouver during this exciting lead-up to the 2010 Winter Games," said Robin Silvester , Port Metro Vancouver's President and Chief Executive Officer.

"Cruise ships have been used as floating accommodation in other sporting events such as the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Greece . Working with the cruise lines, we believe we have developed probably the most stringent environmental requirements ever for an event like this anywhere in the world and we are pleased to be doing our part to ensure Vancouver hosts the greenest games possible."

To make sure the highest possible air and water quality is maintained, environmental requirements include air emissions as well as liquid and solid waste. These requirements include:

    
    -   Cruise ships must meet the equivalent air emissions reduction that
        would result from the use of fuels with low sulphur content. Further,
        as a commitment to a sustainable 2010 Winter Games, greenhouse gas
        emissions offsets are required for all land and water based sources
        of emissions associated with the accommodation vessels.

    -   No discharges of any waste into the harbour.

    -   Ships will be required to connect to Metro Vancouver's sanitary sewer
        and pump barges to properly dispose of liquid waste.

    -   Solid waste is required to be properly removed and disposed of; the
        use of ship board incinerators to dispose of solid waste will not be
        permitted.
    

"This is the first time ever that cruise ships have served as accommodation at a Winter Olympics," said John Hansen , President of the North West CruiseShip Association. "We are proud of our participation. We are also proud of the high levels of environmental protection that we can achieve."

Port Metro Vancouver is proud to be an official supplier to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games and is committed to operating in a sustainable manner, safeguarding and promoting continual protection of the environment.

For further information: Communications & Government Affairs, [phone], Email: [email protected]