Virgin Voyages has months to go before its first ship sets sail, but the brainchild of Sir Richard Branson has already made a firm commitment to respecting the environment.

The Florida-based adults-only cruise company plans to launch the 2,700-berth Scarlet Lady in the spring as the first of four sisterships to take to the seas by 2023.

While the fleet may be small, fledgling Virgin Voyages is making a huge effort to ensure that its vessels cruise lightly upon the marine environment, chief executive Tom McAlpin said.

"The environment and sustainability are really an important part of our purpose," he told TradeWinds during an interview at the company's headquarters in Plantation, Florida — a stone's throw from Fort Lauderdale. "It’s part of our DNA from Richard."

McAlpin said Branson, who lives on an island in the Caribbean, is "very focused" on the ocean's welfare, having formed advocacy groups such as Ocean Unite and Ocean Elders.

"We have been doing all the things onboard to reduce our energy consumption," McAlpin said.

Those efforts include designing a sleek hull, installing LED lighting throughout the ship and self-closing curtains in every cabin, he said.

"When you leave your cabin, we know you’re not there so the blinds close, the air conditioning goes into save mode," he said.

McAlpin explained the galley's ovens turn off when not in use, unlike the old days when ambient heat escaped the ship with the exhaust gas produced by constantly fired equipment.

"We’ve partnered with Climeon, a new technology where we take the exhaust heat from the engine and turn it into clean energy," he said.

Virgin Voyages has also banned single-use plastics for passengers, such as straws, stirrers and bottles, and invested in water stations that offer sparkling water.

Richard Branson's Virgin Group is partnering with private investment firm Bain Capital for the cruise line Photo: Scanpix

'Never, ever, ever, ever'

McAlpin said Virgin Voyages also pledges never to repeat environmental offences committed by other cruise companies when its ships do hit the water.

Arnold Donald-led Carnival Corp has paid $60m in fines over the past years for wrongdoings that include dumping rubbish into the ocean.

"We will never, ever, ever, ever do that," McAlpin said. "That’s just part of who we are, and we will train and we will make sure we have the right folks onboard."

The US state of Alaska has cited Carnival for numerous violations, but the New York-listed owner is not alone in carrying out environmental wrongdoings.

The Alaska Department of Environmental Control has also charged fellow cruise majors Royal Caribbean Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings with pollution offences.

But McAlpin defended the cruise industry's record, saying the entire sector is "really focused on environmental sustainability" despite having its reputation sullied by mistakes.

"I think the industry sometimes gets a bad rap from some things that went wrong, some isolated incidents, some sometimes more systemic," he said.

"I will tell you that those leaders do not want that to happen and they’re doing everything in their power to prevent that."

McAlpin said protecting the environment is an area in which cruise companies actually work together for best results.

"While we’re fierce competitors from a consumer perspective, when it comes to the environment, we walk arm-in-arm with them because it’s the right thing to do for our business and it’s the right things to do for our oceans," he said.

"It’s super important for us and we put our money where our mouth is because we invest in technology and we want to do the right thing."