When you operate the world’s largest sailing ships that really sail, you reap some benefits from using wind power to supplement your engines. For Star Clippers, that means burning less fuel and emitting less exhaust.

“At Star Clippers, we always try to maximize the amount of time we are under wind power so that our guests can experience a true tall ship sailing experience,” said Captain Farhat Shamim, vice president of operations for Star Clippers. “Of course, this also reduces the amount of fuel we consume and therefore is much easier on the environment.”

Shamim said that in the Caribbean where the wind is most predictable, the ships operate under wind power up to 60 percent of the time. But even when sailing before the wind, the ships run their engines to power the air-conditioning and provide electricity to the vessels for refrigeration, etc.

“In other destinations, it really depends on weather conditions, but we also use our sails whenever possible to motor-sail, which reduces fuel consumption,” he added.

But when they do burn fuel, Shamim says it’s a less-polluting grade.

“All our vessels are supplied with high-quality low-sulphur fuel and were awarded the International Air Pollution Prevention Certificate,” he said. “Star Flyer was the first ship in the world to receive this certificate. Later, Star Clipper and Royal Clipper received the same certification.”

Since it has been deployed to Tahiti — a particularly environmentally fragile region of reefs — Star Flyer had a new water-treatment system installed to treat both gray (water from sinks and showers) and black (sewage) water.

“After treatment from this Membrane Bio Reactor system, the water plant is so clear that you can use it for deck wash, but we simply pump it overboard,” said Shamim.

But that’s the only thing that goes overboard at Star Clippers. Shamim says oily bilge water from the engine room is offloaded to a shoreside facility and all waste materials and garbage also are put ashore for disposal.

“We dump nothing in the water — not even a cigarette butt,” said Shamim.