Carnival is keeping its options open when it comes to using exhaust scrubbers, LNG and low-sulphur marine gas oil to lower emissions from its fleet of 103 ships.
"The idea is what works best for our fleet and don't get too married into anything so we can make sure our options are available," he told TradeWinds Tuesday at the Seatrade Global Cruise conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The Arnold Donald-led company has ordered nine ships that run on LNG due by 2022 and two ships on the water that use LNG in port.
The company has also installed exhaust gas scrubbers on 60% of its ships and plans to have them on 80% by 2020.
That's the year the International Maritime Organization will require sulphur content in ship exhaust to go to 0.5% from 3.5%.
"We're probably going to have a hybrid always," he said regarding use of both LNG and scrubbers.
The company also plans to use low-sulphur fuel oil on ships that are not equipped with scrubbers or made to run on LNG, he said.
"It's a more expensive option but we're always going to meet the requirements," he said.
He said the exhaust gas scrubbers are "exceeding expectations" in the early days of their use but it needs to be seen how they will perform over the long run.
At the same time, the use of LNG also has to be time-tested as it may limit where the ships can travel due to limited supply, he said.
"We've got to make sure that it matures, and if it dies and it performs as we expect, then you might see more growth in LNG," he said.
Whatever the company ultimately does, Frizzell said Carnival's goal is to be an environmental leader in lowering harmful exhaust emissions from their ships.
"To do so, we've invested millions in exhaust-gas cleaning systems, we're investing millions in designing ships with LNG," he said.
"Time will tell ... and we don't know what new technologies are going to be developed," he added.
