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Introduction
Cruise ships are used to take vacationers on recreational voyages. The ships provide amenities that enhance the passengers experience such as lounging facilities, cinemas, indoor sports, swimming pools, and music concerts among others. Cruise ships usually take the vacationers on a round trip through a given number of destinations, which usually include a number of coastal downs, before returning them to the port of origin. The cruise industry started in the early 1970s and was widely embraced in 1971 as a viable tourist attraction when a ship known as the Pacific Princess was featured in television show titled “Love Boat”. The Pacific princess measured 500 feet long and grossed 20,000 tones. Since then, cruise ships have increased in size with modern cruise ships, such as the Allure of the Seas, weighing over 225,000-ton and measuring up to 1,187-foot in length (Neuman, 2013). These ships carry thousands of passengers and can remain at sea for weeks or months. Cruise ships operating at sea accumulate large amounts of human waste, discharge greenhouse emissions from the engine, and produce arsenic and mercury from their drainage pipes, all of which act to pollute the environment.
Since cruise ships remain at sea for prolonged periods of time, they are forced or sometimes opt to dump the human waste in the sea. Also, the drainage water storage tanks overflow after a given duration, which leads to the dumping of the heavy-metal-polluted grey water into the sea. Discharge of human waste and grey water into the sea can pollute sea water leading to the death or migration of aquatic animals from the affected areas (Watson, 2015). On the other hand, greenhouse gases released from engine room pollute the atmosphere leading to global warming. Therefore, there is an urgent need to curb the flow of untreated affluent from cruise ships and to regulate the exhaust emissions from the engines and generators. This paper tackles the environmental impacts of cruise ships, explores resulting current mitigation measures that have been put in place, and gives recommendations on the best suited measures that can solve the problem.
Problem description
Sea water pollution by human waste and grey water
A cruise ship of average size and a capacity of around 2000 persons produce considerable amounts of organic and inorganic waste. For example, the weekly human waste in such as ship can reach up to 210,000 gallons while the greywater produced from the drainage system can exceed a million gallons. Also, such a ship can produce over 130 gallons of waste water contaminated with hazardous and poisonous heavy metals and over 25,000 gallons of bilge water mixed with oil (Colwell, 2014). Given that there are hundreds or maybe thousands of cruise ships operating in the seas today, the total wastes discharged to the ocean can add up to several billion gallons.
Air and water pollution by bunker fuel used in cruise ships
Cruise ships combust bunker oil in their engines. Bunker oil refers to the resulting sludge-like residue obtained when petrol, diesel, liquid petroleum gas and other lighter hydrocarbons are extracted from crude oil in a fractionating column in a refinery. Therefore, bunker fuel is the dirtiest form of fossil fuel as compared to diesel or petrol as it has the highest amounts of carbon. The fuel has a color that ranges from black to brown and an irritating smell. Also, it produces a vapor that can be irritating to the skin or eyes. In addition, if the fuel is left in storage tanks for a prolonged duration of time, a hydrogen sulfide vapors forms which can cause instant death if inhaled. In case the bunker fuel spills into the sea, it can lead to adverse effects. For example, the bunker fuel can bioaccumulate leading to health problems in animals higher in the food chain (Penner, 2015). Also, the fuel is toxic to fish, shellfish, crustaceans, and aquatic plants. In addition, its high viscosity makes it a ‘persistent’ oil and hence it does not evaporate quickly and can thus spread over a large area, which further raises its potency as an agent of pollution.
Destruction of the coral reefs
Also, cruise ships lead to negative impacts on the marine environment such as coral reefs. For example, cruise ships, such as the Allure and the Oasis, are very large and as such cannot fit in harbors used by smaller ships. Therefore, dredging of the sea floor is done along coastlines to create room for the big cruise ships. As a result, millions of cubic feet of coral reef is dug from the harbors and disposed in other areas. Such an operation was carried out by the Royal Caribbean cruise company which dredged 35 million cubic feet from Falmouth Jamaica and dumped it in old mangroves (Alaska, 2004). Dredging of harbors can lead to the destabilization of the marine ecosystem.
In general, the cruise industry has created a reputation of polluting the seas. Major players in the industry such as Royal Caribbean, Carnival, and NCL have all pleaded guilty to some sort of environmental crime and giving false information to federal prosecutors and coast guards (Ranjan, 2012). Ironically, cruise ships have promised the protection of the seas but end up polluting the same very medium that enable their business. Also, cruise companies shun environmental mitigation measures such as waste water and exhaust gas treatment to avoid hurting their profits.
Reasons why environmental pollution by cruise ships is prevalent
Lack of scrutiny on the environmental performance of cruise ships
In the United States where the cruise industry is well developed, the impact of the cruise ships on the environment is assessed by an organization that is known as Friends of Earth (FOE). The FOE releases an annual rating of cruise ships with regard to sewage and waste water treatment and reduction of air pollution. FOE report, also referred to as the cruise ship report card, enables consumers to compare between cruise companies and identify the one that is most environmentally responsible. However, in 2014, the cruise industry had a disagreement with the FOE over the criteria used to compile its report card. As a result, the association of cruise operators, Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), wrote a letter to the FOE to announce that the CLIA would sever all ties with FOE (Watson, 2015). The CLIA asserted its support for environmental conservation but questioned the methodology used by the FOE. CLIA argued that the FOE report card does not enhance the consumers’ understanding in an objective and meaningful manner.
The letter sent to the FOE stated that individual cruise companies were free to independently make decisions regarding cooperating with FOE. However, none of the cruise companies submitted their environmental performance data to the FOE for assessment, even the companies listed on the report card. This compelled the FOE to initiate a new rating category on transparency. The transparency category rates the cruise companies’ willingness to submit data on their environmental record. Nevertheless, all the cruise companies monitored by the FOE failed the transparency rating.
Without the cooperation of the cruise companies, it’s very difficult for the FOE to track the environmental behavior of the cruise lines. The companies insist that FOE can obtain all the information that it requires from their sustainability report and from their websites. However, this data is prone to manipulation by the cruise companies as they would not risk their profits for the sake of the environment. Also, the lack of direct cooperation by the cruise companies denies FOE access to important information such as waste treatment technology upgrades (Marcussen, 2016). Hence, the accuracy of the FOE report cards is negatively affected.
Poor waste treatment technology
Nevertheless, the FOE report cards have shown slight improvements of green ratings among cruise ships in recent years. However, some of the ships on waste treatment technologies, some as old as 35 years. Such old and obsolete technology leads to the discharge of untreated sewage into the sea with harmful levels of fecal matter, heavy metals, bacteria, and other contaminants. Furthermore, the law allows cruise ships to dump untreated and raw waste into the sea provided they are more than three miles off the shore (Gibson, Papathanassis & Milde, 2011). Therefore, FOE can only rely on the goodwill and accountability of the cruise liners to submit accurate data on the amount of waste dumped at sea and the state of such waste with regard to the level of treatment.
Lack of goodwill and transparency among cruise liners
The FOE report card grades the environmental performance of cruise ships based on the type and efficiency of sewage treatment technology used in the ship and transparency with regard to data submission. Also, the grading criteria take into account the type of energy that a ship uses to power onboard equipment while docked at sea. Ships that plug into the shore-based power such as the national grid get better ratings than ships that use dirty fuels such as the bunker fuel (United States, 2007). In addition, FOE considers the compliance of cruise liners with water quality regulations.
In the 2014 FOE rating, Disney Cruise Liner which operates from Lake Buena Vista in Florida scored the highest grade in terms of environmental conservation. The company received the favorable rating due to its modern sewage treatment technology installed on its ships. However, Disney Cruise failed and received an “F” on the transparency category and hence its overall score dropped to a “C+” (Science Advisory Panel & Alaska, 2002). Conversely, Carnival Cruise Lines based in Doral Florida received the lowest ratings with an “F” grade for sewage treatment (Copeland, & Library of Congress, 2007). Carnival Cruise Lines is the world’s biggest cruise company with a fleet of 24 ships. However, only two of these ships have modern sewage treatment systems hence the F grade. Also, the refusal to submit data to FOE saw it receive an F grade on transparency. The parent company to Carnival Cruise Lines, the Carnival Corp & PLC, which operates from London and Miami, also operates six other cruise companies that are also graded by FOE. All the seven companies under Carnival Corp & PLC received F ratings on transparency for refusal to comply with the FOE.
Methods of ensuring environmental conservation among cruise liners
Enacting Sewage treatment regulations
As stated, most of the cruise liners use obsolete sewage treatment technologies that is over 35 years old, which leads to dumping of partially treated or poorly treated human waste into the sea. Also, the law allows ships to dump sewage waste three nautical miles from the shore, which leads to billions of sewage gallons finding their way to the sea water. These two situations can be controlled through proper environmental and marine regulations (Walker, 2013). For example, the relevant environmental protection organization, such as the environmental protection agency (EPA) can make it mandatory for all cruise companies to equip their ships with modern waste treatment equipment. Also, failure to comply with such a regulation should be accompanied by a corporate punishment, such as a fine or suspension of their operating license. Also, EPA should make sure no raw sewage is dumped into the ocean regardless of the location of the ship relative to the shore. As such, no human waste would find its way to the ocean and hence no pollution would occur.
Air pollution by bunker fuel
Bunker fuel is the dirtiest and most polluting among the fossil fuels. The cruise companies prefer it because it cheap and relatively safe with regard to causing fires and explosions. Pollution caused by bunker fuel can also be controlled through appropriate environmental regulations. For example, laws can be enacted to make it mandatory for all cruise ships that dock into harbors to plug into the grid power instead of burning bunker fuel to power its generators. Also, the bunker fuel can be mixed with lighter fuels such as diesel to make it cleaner (Rastogi 2009).
Conclusion
Cruise liners are big ships that carry thousands of people and hence generate considerable sewage and fuel emissions that pollute the environment. The cruise ships dump billions of gallons of sewage into the seas per year. The lack of modern sewage treatment equipment and the law that allows ships to dump raw sewage three nautical miles from the shore exacerbates the condition. Also, the combustion of bunker fuel by stationary ships docked in harbors leads to the unnecessary emission of greenhouse and toxic gases. FOE monitors the performance of cruise ships but since 2014, the cruise companies have declined to submit their environmental performance data. Cruise companies can be encouraged to conserve the environment through relevant environmental and marine regulations.
References
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