Fleet pledge to reduce environmental footprint of plastic bottles

(Posted on 25/09/22)

Fleet Management Limited, part of the Caravel Group and the second-largest ship management company in the world, has signed the IMPA SAVE pledge to reduce the deployment of single-use drinking water bottles at sea. As a leading third-party ship manager with a portfolio of over 600 vessels, Fleet sees its role as significant in helping the industry navigate reform and is committed to managing its environmental footprint responsibly.

IMPA SAVE, launched by the International Marine Purchasing Association (IMPA) in 2020, aims to reduce more than 40 tonnes of waste plastic bottles disposed of by the global shipping fleet each year. Formed in June 2020 under the International Marine Purchasing Association’s umbrella,

IMPA SAVE was created to support the call to action for the UN Sustainable Development Goals through industry collaboration, awareness raising, outreach work and accountability.

Kishore Rajvanshy, Managing Director at Fleet Management, said: “Environmental stewardship is at the heart of Fleet’s sustainability strategy. We acknowledge the significant environmental footprint of plastic bottles and would like to do our part in reducing the use of these in the global

shipping industry.”

To date, 55% of Fleet’s vessels have a water purification system onboard, with more to soon follow suit. In parallel, the company aims to roll out educational campaigns for its 24,000+ seafarers to consume more water from the purification system and less from plastic water bottles on board.

Commenting on the pledge, Alex Drew, Procurement Director at Fleet Management, said: “At Fleet, we actively support the use of environmentally safe and biodegradable products. Joining forces with IMPA SAVE publicly affirms our commitment to reducing our use of plastic. We are working to ensure our supply partners understand the importance of this – to both Fleet and the planet – and we hope they join us in adopting new policies that actively encourage transitioning from the traditional harmful packaging to environmentally-friendly solutions.”