SUSTAINABILITY
Responsible and sustainable voyages
If you are interested in sea voyages, you certainly know about the human impact on seas and oceans. Climate change and global warming are widely discussed these days but we rarely understand what is really going on and how we personally are responsible.
It becomes an eye-opening experience when you reach the distant shores of the Arctic Ocean on a sailing ship … and find there all sorts of the food packaging from the nearest supermarket as well as plastic bags, torn fishing nets, tyres and other plastic stuff. All that doesn't just look awful on those beautiful Arctic beaches but poses a direct threat to the environment. Animals, birds and fish often die after swallowing plastic items or getting tangled in them. Some fish can accumulate heavy metals, mercury, lead in their bodies which can harm both them and people eating them. All that is a result of irresponsible handling of plastic and other waste.
In 2021 Maritime Practice became the first (and so far, the only) Russian company joining the Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators (AECO). All our voyages strictly follow the rules set by the Association.
During our sailing voyages we comply with the guidelines for waste handling both at sea and ashore. We never leave any rubbish behind after our landings. We collect all our plastic waste from the first to the last day of any voyage and we grind the organic waste and dispose of it at sea at the distance of at least 12 nautical miles. Gray water (after dishwashing or showering) and black water (after using WC) are pumped out at ports.
Maritime Practice is both an education and a science centre so we pay a lot of attention to the environmental issues before and during our voyages. We give talks and lectures about environment, weather and climate. We also engage our trainees in the science projects based on the principles of the "citizen science". All our social media have a section called "Scientific fact" where our subscribers can find information about up-to-date scientific research and take part in various quizzes.
It becomes an eye-opening experience when you reach the distant shores of the Arctic Ocean on a sailing ship … and find there all sorts of the food packaging from the nearest supermarket as well as plastic bags, torn fishing nets, tyres and other plastic stuff. All that doesn't just look awful on those beautiful Arctic beaches but poses a direct threat to the environment. Animals, birds and fish often die after swallowing plastic items or getting tangled in them. Some fish can accumulate heavy metals, mercury, lead in their bodies which can harm both them and people eating them. All that is a result of irresponsible handling of plastic and other waste.
In 2021 Maritime Practice became the first (and so far, the only) Russian company joining the Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators (AECO). All our voyages strictly follow the rules set by the Association.
During our sailing voyages we comply with the guidelines for waste handling both at sea and ashore. We never leave any rubbish behind after our landings. We collect all our plastic waste from the first to the last day of any voyage and we grind the organic waste and dispose of it at sea at the distance of at least 12 nautical miles. Gray water (after dishwashing or showering) and black water (after using WC) are pumped out at ports.
Maritime Practice is both an education and a science centre so we pay a lot of attention to the environmental issues before and during our voyages. We give talks and lectures about environment, weather and climate. We also engage our trainees in the science projects based on the principles of the "citizen science". All our social media have a section called "Scientific fact" where our subscribers can find information about up-to-date scientific research and take part in various quizzes.
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Photo credits: George Eliseev