Cruise ships are floating entertainment behemoths. As seen in Figure 1, they promise to be 24/7 entertainment hubs for guests, with a myriad of activities for everyone.
Fig 1. Royal Caribbean’s website highlights onboard cruise entertainment [1]
To illustrate just how many entertainment options some cruise ships offer, figure 2 showcases the many entertainment options onboard ‘Quantum of the Seas’ which range from observational capsules and indoor skydiving simulators to various pools, live venues, and 3D theatres.
Fig 2. A snapshot of what’s onboard the ‘Quantum of the Seas’ [2]
While entertainment varies between cruises, a common reality is that they consume vast quantities of fuel to function. Research notes that to accommodate the many ‘high-level’ services for the passengers, a large amount of power is needed and this is often derived from fuel-burning engines [3]. In fact, the fuel consumption for a single cruise ship could get as high as 250 tons of fuel daily or more fuel than a lifetime of driving cars [4].
This immense fuel consumption results in a lot of pollution. Firstly, black carbon is a huge problem in the shipping industry and according to research, cruise ships emit the most black carbon of any shipping type (figure 3).
Fig 3. Black carbon emission by ship [5]
Black carbon particles are emitted as a consequence of burning cheap fossil fuels in engines that can be as large as a multi-story house and lack basic emission controls like diesel particulate filters. As Comer notes, black carbon strongly absorbs sunlight, directly heating the atmosphere and accelerating the melting of snow and ice after it falls to the ground. Black carbon is also harmful to humans, with the particles contributing to respiratory/cardiovascular diseases when inhaled, resulting in premature death [6].
Beyond just black carbon, cruise ships emit huge amounts of sulfur oxides. According to a study from transport & Environment, 203 cruise ships that operated around Europe in 2017 emitted 62 kilotons of sulfur oxides, nearly 20 times the 3.2 kilotons that all European vehicles (260 million) emitted [7]. The US environmental protection agency (EPA) notes that sulfur oxides like sulfur dioxide can harm human respiratory systems, contribute to particulate matter pollution and significant quantities, and can harm foliage by damaging them and decreasing growth. Additionally, Acid rain is caused by sulfur oxides which have been known to harm ecosystems, especially sensitive ones [8].
Lastly, cruise ships generate immense wastewater during operations which is dumped into the oceans they traverse. A West coast environmental law (WCEL) study [9] found that a cruise ship the size of the celebrity solstice produces waste on a week-long Alaskan trip which includes:
- 1 million liters of human sewage
- 8.7 million liters of greywater
- 200 million liters of scrubber wash water
- 8 tonnes of garbage
- 95,000 liters of oily bilge water
- 500 liters of waste
Fig 4. Bilge water generation dumping from ships in Canadian waters [10]
From Figure 4, bilge water is just one type of wastewater cruise ships produce and is extensively dumped around Canadian coastlines. These wastewaters have huge impacts on the environments they are disposed of in with the headline of one news article aptly calling this practice ‘US cruise ships using Canada as a toilet bowl for polluted waste’. The same WCEL study states that wastewater contains many pollutants, like ammonia, heavy metals, detergents, grease, carcinogens, and many others. When released into the wild, it has huge impacts on aquatic wildlife and the food sources on which we depend, having endangered sea otter and killer whale populations off the coasts of British Columbia.
This is just a simple look at the pollutive nature of cruise ships but it is evident that the cost of entertaining hundreds if not thousands of passengers on multi-day cruises is immense environmental pollution. Friends of the Earth (FOE) publish annual cruise reports grading cruise lines on their environmental impacts and had harsh words to say about the industry in 2021, noting ‘everything that cruises ships come into contact with is likely to be harmed along their journey. The air, water, fragile habitats, coastal communities, and wildlife are all affected… Without legally binding regulations, the cruise industry will continue to pollute and threaten public health at will [11].”’
Fig. 5 Cartoon on the hidden side of ships [12]
While I hope that the cruise industry will reform and reduce its environmental impact, I think it starts by recognizing the true cost of cruise ship entertainment. Thus, a look behind the curtain of cruise entertainment like in Figure 5 is needed to raise awareness of the damaging nature of this industry.
– Lucian T.K.
References
[1] Royal Caribbean. (2022, December 1). World-class onboard entertainment. Royal Caribbean Incentives. Retrieved January 29, 2023, from https://www.royalcaribbeanincentives.com/discover/brand-experience/entertainment/
[2] The Cruise Web. (2014). Quantum of the seas overview. Cruise Web. Retrieved January 30, 2023, from https://cruiseweb.com/cruise-lines/royal-caribbean-international/ship-quantum-of-the-seas
[3] Toneatti, L., Deluca, C., Fraleoni Morgera, A., Piller, M., & Pozzetto, D. (2022). Waste to energy onboard cruise ships: A new paradigm for sustainable cruising. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 10(4), 480. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse10040480
[4] How much fuel does a cruise ship use? Paul M. Rady Mechanical Engineering. (2016, July 25). Retrieved January 29, 2023, from https://www.colorado.edu/mechanical/2016/07/25/how-much-fuel-does-cruise-ship-use
[5] Fleck, A. (2022, May 2). Infographic: Cruise ships are the biggest black carbon polluters. Statista Infographics. Retrieved January 29, 2023, from https://www.statista.com/chart/27353/worst-black-carbon-polluters/
[6] Comer, B. (2020). Maritime shipping: Black Carbon Issues at the International Maritime Organization. SpringerBriefs in Applied Sciences and Technology, 13–25. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59691-0_2
[7] Gilboy, J. (2019, June 11). Carnival Cruise Ship Fleet pollutes almost 10 times more than all cars in Europe: Study. The Drive. Retrieved January 29, 2023, from https://www.thedrive.com/news/28469/carnival-cruise-ship-fleet-pollutes-almost-10-times-more-than-all-cars-in-europe-study
[8] EPA. (2022). https://www.epa.gov/so2-pollution/sulfur-dioxide-basics. EPA. Retrieved January 29, 2023, from https://www.epa.gov/so2-pollution/sulfur-dioxide-basics
[9] WCEL. (2022). REGULATING THE WEST COASTCRUISE INDUSTRY:Canada at the low water mark. West Coast Environmental Law. Retrieved January 29, 2023, from https://www.wcel.org/sites/default/files/publications/regulating_the_west_coast_cruise_industry_final.pdf
[10] WWF. (2022). Summary report national vessel dumping assessment: Quantifying the … Retrieved January 29, 2023, from https://wwf.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/2022-WWF-NO-DUMPING-SUMMARY-REPORT-EN-2.pdf
[11] Palmer, C. (2022, July 28). Polluting for fun. Log In ‘ Polluting for fun – WordPress. Retrieved January 29, 2023, from https://blog.nus.edu.sg/luciantk/wp-admin/post.php?post=53&action=edit
[12] Walker, J. (2010, August 20). Cruise ships turn British Columbia waters into “toilet bowel of raw sewage”. Cruise Law News. Retrieved January 29, 2023, from https://www.cruiselawnews.com/2010/08/articles/cruise-pollution/cruise-ships-turn-british-columbia-waters-into-toilet-bowel-of-raw-sewage/