Cruise sewage: What goes in must come out

The enormous amounts of food and drink consumed on cruise ships, along with water from laundry, pool, medical facilities, photo labs, spas and dry cleaning stations, has to go somewhere. At sea, what you flush down the toilet can actually be dumped untreated into the ocean to contaminate fish and other marine life, so long as the ship is at least three nautical miles from shore. This sewage contains pollutants including fecal matter, bacteria, viruses, pathogens, nutrients, hazardous waste and pharmaceuticals, all of which can be harmful to human health and aquatic life.

Cruise ships pollute the air we breathe

Cruise ships are also responsible for significant air pollution from the dirty fuel they burn, which can lead to serious human health problems, especially in port communities. Even while at dock, cruise ships often run dirty diesel engines to provide electrical power to passengers and crew. Emissions from cruise ship engines include nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, carbon dioxide, and diesel particulate matter, the microscopic soot that is so damaging to human health. Among other health and environmental impacts, these emissions contribute significantly to serious cardiovascular problems, premature death, acid rain, habitat destruction and climate change. Scientists estimate that by 2030, air pollution from ocean-going vessels in U.S. waters will increase by 150 percent. 

Cruise ships can get sick

From 2002 to 2011, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention documented an average of 22 serious illness outbreaks per year from all cruises docking at U.S. ports, and nine have already been reported in the first eight months of 2012. Several forms of gastrointestinal illness including Norovirus are highly contagious, especially in the close quarters on cruise ships, and may cause severe diarrhea, headaches and vomiting. The CDC conducts a Vessel Sanitation Program that requires cruise ships on voyages from 3-21 days and carrying 100 passengers or more to report to the CDC when 3 percent or more of passengers or crew report symptoms of gastrointestinal illness to the ship’s medical staff during the voyage. The following is a list of the top “sick ships” in the U.S. utilizing CDC data from January 2000 to June 2012. 

*Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/surv/GIlist.htm Jan. 2000 - Jun. 2012

Largest North American cruise ports

More than 10 million people took cruises on 115 ships from North American ports in 2011. The following is a breakdown of the top 10 cruise ship ports in North America in 2011 by passenger numbers and is based on data from the U.S. Department of Transportation.