The number of people choosing to travel on cruise ships has risen exponentially over the last three decades. While cruising can be a good way to see new places, learn about new cultures, and take a break, a new report shows the significant damage cruise ships cause to the planet.
What’s happening?
A new report has shown that the world’s largest cruise line, Carnival, released more harmful pollution than Scotland’s biggest city, Glasgow, during 2023. Per the Guardian, the report issued by the Transport and Environment campaign group analyzed the release of harmful pollution from cruise companies and found that Carnival was the worst one sailing in Europe in 2023. MSC was the second most polluting, followed by Norwegian Cruise Line.
More specifically, the report found that Carnival was responsible for releasing around 2.5 million tonnes (2.75 million tons) of carbon, a heat-trapping gas responsible for causing the planet to heat up. In comparison, figures available for the city of Glasgow show that in 2021, it released 2.43 million tonnes (2.68 million tons) of carbon, according to the city council.
A report from last year also found that Carnival’s fleet of 63 ships was responsible for more sulfur oxide pollution in 2022 than all of the cars in Europe combined.
Why is this important?
Travel is responsible for around 8% of global carbon pollution, and while most of the focus has been on flying, cruise ships are actually responsible for more pollution per person per mile.
“The larger companies have more vessels and bigger ships,” said Transport and Environment’s shipping policy manager, Jacob Armstrong, per the Guardian. “But bigger isn’t better when it comes to emissions.”
While many ships have introduced scrubbers to reduce air pollution, the heavy metals, oil, fuel, and harmful pollutants these systems collect are often mixed with seawater and released directly into the ocean. This process doesn’t reduce pollution but merely shifts where it is released, which may cause harm to marine life and delicate ocean systems.
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A study by a university in Sweden found that pollution from ships using scrubber technology in the Baltic Sea caused pollution that corresponded to €680 million (approximately $720 million) in socio-economic costs between 2014 and 2022.
What’s being done about cruise ship pollution?
Cruise ships are working toward being more sustainable by incorporating new technology and upgrades to help reduce their environmental impact. Yet, many people are skeptical because the transitions aren’t happening quickly.
Several major cities in Europe, including Venice and Amsterdam, have introduced cruise ship restrictions in part due to worries about environmental impacts. Moreover, several cities in the states of Florida, Maine, California, and Alaska are also pushing for restrictions or to ban cruise ships from their ports entirely.
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