Cruising Experience Today-Environment

Life Aboard a City at Sea The Ships Ships at Port Cruising Guidelines

ENVIRONMENT

quick links

The primary attraction of the Inside Passage is its pristine beauty, so preserving it is essential. While much of this vast area appears to be relatively uninhabited, it is home to thousands of species that fill the air, water and land, all of which are impacted by pollutants. So are the people who live and work in British Columbia and Alaska. Admittedly, there’s always the tough balance between encouraging the cruise industry and regulating it.

Cruise ship operations are subject to city/port, provincial/state, federal, and international laws and regulations. (In the United States, Coast Guard regulations supersede even state policies or port contracts.) In a vigilant attempt to monitor, maintain and even improve upon current environmental quality, Alaska has enacted some of the toughest standards for cruise ships doing business in its waters. Cruise companies also work in compliance with environmental standards and laws set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships at Sea (MARPOL), the International Council of Cruise Lines (ICCL and CLIA), various maritime classification societies and area organizations. Failure to comply with safety management systems can prevent a ship from operating from U.S. ports.

Admittedly, 80 percent of all ocean pollution actually originates from land-based activities; according to the 2004 U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and no doubt, cruise ships have some impact on the pollution problem. For coastal waters, the greatest pollution threat includes runoff from fertilizers, nutrients from livestock manure, oil and grease from paved surfaces, and drainage from abandoned mines.

To put passenger ships in perspective, they represent .002 percent of all ocean-going vessels worldwide, yet the cruise industry is the only segment of the maritime industry that is on the cutting edge of environmental protection. Over the past five years, cruise lines have spent an average of $2 million per ship on new environmental technologies and retrofits. Here are some of the major environmental stewardship issues being addressed:

Hazardous waste: Products such as dry-cleaning fluids or solvents; chemicals used for photo processing, printing or photocopying; fluorescent or mercury vapour lamps; and certain types of inks, medicines and batteries are all hazardous wastes produced during cruises. It is illegal to discharge any of these products into the water so ships must have the capacity to hold such hazardous wastes onboard until they can be properly disposed of or recycled on land.

Waste and garbage: In the last 10 years, cruise ships have cut waste and garbage almost in half—all while sustaining an average annual growth in passenger capacity of 7.6 percent. Crystal Cruises’ “Crystal Clean” program encourages passengers to adopt anti-litter efforts. Recycling bins are next to waste bins, sports programs use biodegradable golf balls and in-cabin toiletries are specially packaged, among other initiatives.
Wastewater: Effluents (sewage or “black water”) are typically treated by traditional type II Marine Sanitation Devices (MSD) that many consider ineffective for protecting marine waters. In Alaska, most ships have or are installing Advanced Wastewater Treatment Systems (AWTS). These systems should include ultraviolet light polishing to kill any leftover bacteria, monitoring equipment, and storage tanks.

Air emissions: All NWCA member cruise lines have vessels that surpass air quality standards set by the EPA Environmental Protection Agency and MARPOL ANNEX VI requirements. Some ships have installed hybrid propulsion systems powered by diesel and gas turbine engines to reduce air emissions. Where possible, ships plug into shore power while in port. Juneau has taken the lead with this initiative, with Princess Cruises investing $4.5 million to develop a shore power facility in cooperation with the Alaska Light and Power Company. During day-long visits to the port, Princess ships connect to the new shore power distribution system that allows them to shut down their engines, thereby cutting smoke emissions while in port.

Fuel efficiency: Fuel used by NWCA cruise ships has the lowest sulfur content available - averaging between 1.9 and 2.1 percent. As well, state-of-the-art rudderless propulsion systems (azipods) offer increased fuel efficiency while providing a high degree of manoeuvrability. New ships powered by gas-turbine engines use a state-of-the-art incinerator to remove dioxins from gas emissions, thereby reducing exhaust emissions by up to 90 percent.

Some cruise lines have taken leadership roles in environmental stewardship. For example, several have developed environmental programs on board their vessels. In 1993, Princess became the first company to appoint a full-time environmental expert as well as providing education and training programs for all crewmembers, all as part of their “Planet Princess” environmental health program. Since 2001 Holland America has added an additional second engineer to oversee environmental matters that include bilge waste management, emissions, garbage handling and processing of wastewater.