Cruise ships showed contempt for customers by breaking clean air pledge, report says

The world’s cruise ships have done virtually nothing to reduce their pollution over the past year, with some still emitting as much particulate matter as 1m cars a day, a report says.

MSC Divina leaves Venice by St Mark’s Basin in 2012.
 The cruise industry has been criticised for not acting on
air pollution in the past 12 months. 

The annual survey of 63 ships, conducted by the German environment group Nabu, refused to recommend a single one for adequately reducing its environmental impact in 2017.

It accused the industry of having “contempt” for the health of its customers, saying companies had reneged on promises to clean up their fleets.

“Last year the sector claimed 23 ships would be operating with soot filters,” said Nabu’s Dietmar Oeliger. “The truth is not a single filter is working at present.”

The report’s authors say a mid-size cruise ship’s diesel engine can use 150 tonnes of fuel each day, which would emit as much particulate as one million cars. In December, the Australian government passed a regulation forcing cruise ships in Sydney harbour to use low-sulphur fuel, after residents complained emissions were negatively affecting their health.

The New South Wales Environmental Protection Agency had earlier warned that docked cruise ships posed a health risk to those who lived near them.

Read The Guardian story - “Cruise ships showed contempt for customers by breaking clean air pledge, report says.”