Philips LEDs installed in Costa Cruises' ships

Royal Philips has completed the upgrade of 10 ships for holiday cruise company Costa Cruises. More than 300,000 Philips LED lights were installed to enable a 60% reduction in the energy used to power each ship’s lighting.

Diesel motors exclusively power electricity aboard ships, and this lighting renovation across 10 ships enables total annual savings of 30,000 tonnes in CO₂ emissions. The switch to energy-efficient LED technology is the latest step towards Costa Cruises’ goal to slash its CO₂ emissions according to targets it set out in its Sustainability Report published in 2014.

“This initiative between two companies engaged in providing solutions for the mitigation of the impact on the environment represents another step forward by Costa Cruises in the field of sustainability. The lighting project with Philips is an important initiative undertaken to lower the CO₂ impact generated by our fleet and to reduce energy consumption onboard,” said Stefania Lallai, sustainability director, Costa Cruises.

Philips’ MasterLED spots and CoreProLED tubes installed on the cruise ships emit white light that does not irritate or tire the eyes. Philips completed the re-lamping of three ships back in 2013, with the lighting of the remaining seven ships completely renovated by December 2014. Philips is also involved in the LED lighting renovation of Costa Cruises’ headquarters in Genoa, Italy.

“Travel by sea already has the lowest carbon footprint compared to other forms of transport in the wider tourism industry,” said Nicola Kimm, head of sustainability for Philips Lighting. “Think of cruise ships as self-contained mini floating cities, powered by their own energy supply. Switching from 50-watt bulbs to 7-watt LED technology increases energy efficiency by more than halving each ship’s electricity consumption required for lighting.”