Silversea Cruises - Final Grade: “C”
Silversea Cruises ("Silversea") was founded in 1994. Headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Silversea describes itself as a luxury cruise line that operates six cruise ships worldwide. The Silversea cruise ship fleet consists of smaller ships with carrying capacities of less than 900 passengers and crew.
Of Silversea's four ships, only one (the Silver Shadow) has installed an advanced sewage treatment system, resulting in a grade of F for the company's 25% sewage treatment score. In determining the air pollution reduction grade for each cruise line, only ships that dock at a port that currently has shoreside power (thereby avoiding burning dirty fuel in port) were considered. In total, 0% of Silversea's ships that dock at a port with shoreside power are plug-in capable, giving the company an F in this category. In 2009, Alaskan officials cited the Silver Shadow for two violations of Alaskan water pollution standards, giving Silversea a 73% for water quality compliance in Alaska, or a B-. Silversea did not receive any citations for Alaskan air pollution standards in 2009.
Silversea Cruises - Cruise Ship Fleet
| Ship Name | Total Persons on Board | Destinations | Sewage Treatment | Air Pollution Reduction | Water Quality Compliance | Final Ship Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Silver Shadow | 683 | Alaska, Australia, Canada, Caribbean, Central America, East Asia, Mexico, New Zealand, South America, Southeast Asia, U.S. East Coast, U.S. West Coast | A | F | B- | C |
| Prince Albert II | 243 | Africa, Antarctic, Canada, Central America, Europe, Mediterranean, South America | F | F | N/A | F |
| Silver Cloud | 508 | Caribbean, Central America, Europe, Mediterranean, Mexico, North Africa, South America, U.S. East Coast, U.S. West Coast | F | F | N/A | F |
| Silver Spirit | 916 | Australia, Canada, Caribbean, Central America, East Asia, Europe, India, Mediterranean, Mexico, Middle East, New England, New Zealand, North Africa, South America, South Pacific, Southeast Asia, U.S. East Coast, U.S. West Coast | F | F | N/A | F |
| Silver Whisper | 683 | Canada, Caribbean, Central America, East Asia, Europe, India, Mediterranean, Middle East, New England, North Africa, South America, Southeast Asia, U.S. East Coast | F | F | N/A | F |
| Silver Wind | 508 | Africa, Europe, India, Mediterranean, Middle East, North Africa | F | F | N/A | F |
2010 Cruise Report Card Grading Methodology
The Cruise Line Environmental Report Card ranks 11 major cruise lines—Carnival Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises, Crystal Cruises, Cunard Cruise Line, Disney Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Princess Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Royal Caribbean Int’l, and Silversea Cruises—according to three environmental criteria: Sewage Treatment, Air Pollution Reduction, and Water Quality Compliance.
- To determine a cruise line’s Sewage Treatment grade, we compared the number of cruise ships in the cruise line that have installed advanced sewage treatment systems against the total number of ships in the cruise line.
- To determine the Air Pollution Reduction grade for each ship in a cruise line, only ships that dock at a North American port that currently provides shoreside power hookups were graded.
- To determine the Water Quality Compliance grade for ships operating in Alaska, we used 2009 notices of violation issued for individual cruise ships to each cruise line by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. Ships were given an ‘n/a’ if they traveled to Alaska but avoided Alaska’s strong water quality standards by discharging outside of those protected waters.
- The grades for each of the criteria were averaged to calculate the Final Grade for each cruise line.