The cruise industry must address the consequences of cruise pollution, and implement the necessary protections for public health before cruising can continue in a post-COVID-19 world.
At 226 thousand metric tons, accommodating 6,780 guests and 2,100 crew, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines' new Harmony of the Seas is a gargantuan fuel-gobbling monster.
Every year, thousands of cruise ships criss-cross the globe, burning highly toxic fuel, producing asthma-causing emissions and dumping sewage directly into the ocean. Most cruise lines only meet federal pollution standards that are decades out of date.
It is estimated that almost 22 million people will take a cruise in 2014. While the cruise industry has made a commitment to protect the marine ecosystems and the unique communities they visit, there remains plenty of room for improvement. To hold cruise lines accountable, Friends of the Earth produces an annual Cruise Ship Report Card grading the lines on their environmental and human health impacts.
If you are planning to explore the oceans…
On June 13 in Southampton, England, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, will christen the new Royal Princess, marking the beginning of a week-long inaugural celebration for Princess Cruises. This 4,950-passenger and crew cruise ship spans 330 meters in length (about 3 football fields), weighs over 140,000 gross tons, and is the first new Princess cruise ship to be launched since 2008. The Royal Princess is also the largest ship in the Princess fleet and is…
The Carnival Triumph’s “cruise from hell”…the tragic capsizing of the Costa Concordia in Italian waters…the Shell oil rig that ran aground on a small island south of Kodiak, Alaska… …there hasn’t been a lot of good news in the last few months for the cruise and shipping industries. In fact, the rash of accidents and cruise ship horror stories has cast a spotlight on the safety and environmental practices of cruise ships…
It’s that time of year -- as temperatures drop, people start daydreaming about warm weather, and the lucky ones start scheduling their tropical getaways. If you, or anyone you know, are planning a cruise vacation, Friends of the Earth has a great tool for choosing a greener cruise. Friends of the Earth's 2012 Cruise Ship Report Card ranks 15 major cruise lines and 148 cruise ships for their air and water pollution footprint. The…
A cruise ship room tag from a Holland America vessel was found washed up with a concentrated amount of sewage and various plastic on Pond Beach in Nahant, Massachusetts last Saturday. The washed up waste was described as a “mass of rubber gloves, dental floss, contraceptive and personal hygiene items, and a urinal cake … huge masses of brownish foam … toilet paper and other debris ... within the foamy mass.” While the…
Nearly two years after the International Maritime Organization approved an Emission Control Area for ships in the waters around North America, the first phase is finally set to begin on August 1. This ECA designation brings the ocean waters of North America into an international control program which controls the emissions of nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides and particulate matter from ships within 200 nautical miles of the coasts of the U.S. and Canada. The…
Today, the U.S. EPA signed a federal rule that will finalize EPA’s decision to approve a California state proposal to ban all sewage discharges from large cruise ships and most other large ocean-going ships to state marine waters along California’s 1,624 mile coast from Mexico to Oregon and surrounding major islands. Now California has banned even treated sewage from being discharged from large vessels in California’s marine waters.
California’s coastline includes some of…