Weighing up cruise tourism

Cruising, while popular globally, is facing localised backlashes. takes to the seas to see if it is ethically sound.

The sun is shining. Tanned bodies spread across the pool deck. The cruise is soon to dock at its fifth tropical island. So naturally, you’re not in the mood to analyse the environmental damage your two-week isle hop may be doing to the planet – or perhaps even your own health.

However, an undercover investigation from UK Channel 4’s Dispatches programme in July found emissions from a typical cruise ship mean the top deck can have air quality worse than some of the world’s most polluted cities.

This is easy to believe when a couple of those cruise ship engine exhausts can emit as much ultra-fine particle matter as a million cars in a day.

Despite the reputation for slow and leisurely travel, cruise tourism is still a big carbon emitter. Air transport accounts for the largest share of tourism-related greenhouse gas emissions, but cruises remain the most emissions-intense mode of transport per kilometre travelled, according to a 2016 report from the European Environment Agency.

This carbon footprint is bumped up by between 10 and 30 per cent because cruisers often fly to and from their departure and arrival ports.

So now that the illusion has been shattered, what are cruise companies doing about their sizeable environmental impact?

Well, Carnival Corporation, owner of P&O, Princess and Cunard, this year launched its own sustainability tracking website for carbon-conscious travellers to check out, and its 2016 sustainability report showed it was ahead in its goal of reducing its CO2 equivalent emissions to 25 per cent below a 2005 baseline by 2020. Not bad, given the industry has grown from around 10 million to 23 million annual passengers in the past 12 years.

Carnival’s rival, Royal Caribbean, said it was a ‘‘leader in the development and installation of Advanced Emission Purification (AEP) systems’’. These systems remove sulphur dioxide and particulate matter by ‘‘scrubbing’’ emissions, ‘‘regardless of the sulphur content of the fuel available to the ship’’. A Royal Caribbean spokesperson said: ‘‘We are rolling out the AEP systems on our existing fleet as well as ensuring that all of our newly built ships incorporate AEP systems.’’

However, the University of Brighton’s principal lecturer for tourism, Dr Clare Weeden, dismisses these endeavours as self-serving, saying they ’’are only adhering to regulations because it reduces their cost of fuel and operations, the scrubbers and waste management systems on board all lighten the ship, making it cheaper to sail.’’

The cruise industry body, Cruise Lines International Association (Clia), however, pointed to its own selfregulation, such as a self-imposed ban on dumping untreated sewage in any stretch of water (meanwhile, international law only bans it within 12 nautical miles of shore).

The association’s spokeswoman also pointed to the US$1 billion invested in new technology and cleaner fuels, as well as the first cruise ship powered by Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), which will start up in 2019. That’s on top of