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PROTECT VIRGINIA

PROTECT VIRGINIAPROTECT VIRGINIAPROTECT VIRGINIA
  • Home
  • Community Impacts
  • Pollution
  • Bad Business
  • Responsible Tourism
  • A Case Against Expansion

CRUISE SHIP POLLUTION

We need to Protect Marine life, Wildlife, and Human Heath

 These ships are floating cities. Small ships have over 3000 people on board (passengers & crew) and the largest one over 9,500. This requires significant power generation and associated exhaust when in a port. To save money cruise ships traditionally burn "bunker fuel" to generate power. Pitch black and thick as molasses, it is made from the dregs of the refining process. It is loaded with sulfur, heavy metals, and other toxins that, when burned, produce noxious gasses and fine particles that can harm human health and the environment. Some of the toxicants are “scrubbed” from the exhaust, but open-loop scrubbers flush this directly into the water. There is also water pollution from offshore dumping of gray/black water. In addition to water pollution the air pollution, light pollution, and noise pollution are of concern. 

 

CRUISE SHIPS: 1% OF THE SHIPS, 25% OF THE POLLUTION

Scrubber Discharge (24M gallons/week)

Scrubber Discharge (24M gallons/week)

Scrubber Discharge (24M gallons/week)

Water discharge resulting from spraying in the ship's exhaust with water and rinsing it back into the sea. This is highly acidic wastewater that has heavy metals and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAHs).  

Grey Water (1M gallons/week)

Scrubber Discharge (24M gallons/week)

Scrubber Discharge (24M gallons/week)

 Grey water describes wastewater that has been collected from a ship's galley, showers, laundries, and sinks.  Grey water contains microplastics from laundry and personal care and cosmetics. Grey water can also contains bacteria, viruses, and other harmful chemicals.

Black Water (210,000 gallons/week)

Scrubber Discharge (24M gallons/week)

Black Water (210,000 gallons/week)

 Sewage discharge that contains pollutants including nutrients, metals, toxins and pathogens. Blackwater discharges impair water quality, negatively affect aquatic ecosystems and increase risks to human health. 

Bilge Water (25,000 gallons/week)

Carbon Dioxide (Equivalent to 83,000 cars)

Black Water (210,000 gallons/week)

 Bilge water can contain concentrations of various industrial fluids from the ship's machinery spaces such as coolant, lubricants, and fuel. 

Solid Waste (8 tons/week)

Carbon Dioxide (Equivalent to 83,000 cars)

Carbon Dioxide (Equivalent to 83,000 cars)

There are tons of solid waste on cruise ships. This includes paper, plastic, cardboard, food, cans, glass, and more. 

Carbon Dioxide (Equivalent to 83,000 cars)

Carbon Dioxide (Equivalent to 83,000 cars)

Carbon Dioxide (Equivalent to 83,000 cars)

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is an important heat-trapping gas, also known as a greenhouse gas, that comes from the burning of fossil fuels for propulsion and power generation.

Sulfur Oxides (SOx)

Nitrous Oxides (NOx) Equivalent to 420,000 cars

Black Carbon (a.k.a. Soot)

Breathing in Sulfur dioxide causes irritation of the nose and throat and exasperates respiratory conditions like asthma and emphysema. 

Black Carbon (a.k.a. Soot)

Nitrous Oxides (NOx) Equivalent to 420,000 cars

Black Carbon (a.k.a. Soot)

 Black carbon is the second most important contributor to global warming. The fine particulate is linked to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.

Nitrous Oxides (NOx) Equivalent to 420,000 cars

Nitrous Oxides (NOx) Equivalent to 420,000 cars

Nitrous Oxides (NOx) Equivalent to 420,000 cars

  

 NOx can irritate airways in the respiratory system and aggravate respiratory diseases, particularly asthma, leading to respiratory symptoms (coughing, wheezing or difficulty breathing), hospital admissions and visits to emergency rooms.

Methane

Methane

Nitrous Oxides (NOx) Equivalent to 420,000 cars

A greenhouse gas 28 times as potent as CO2. Falsely claimed to be a clean source of fuel for new cruise ships.

Pollution, Accidental Dumping, Fires, & Collisions

  Accidents occur more than one might think in the cruise industry. Many are minor, but serious ones can devastate a community. In November 2023  a Carnival (Princess’ parent company) cruise ship, dumped sludge into Grand Turk port waters during a power outage. Cruise lines have also had to deal with fires, and other accidents. The Virginia's waters are already unhealthy (i.e five Virginia rivers have a health rating of “D,” from the UMD Center for Environmental Sciences). Additional pollution (either deliberate or accidental) would further degrade the Virginia waters and impact both marine life and wildlife. Other accidents can stress local infrastructure (fire, police, medical) or cause damage property.   

LEARN MORE


  A must watch video


The Cruise Ship Industry: A floating grave? | The Future of the Cruise Industry


Poison in the Water: The call to ban scrubber discharge

Princess Cruise Lines to Pay Largest-Ever Criminal

Princess Cruise Lines Pleads Guilty to Second Revocation

One Corporation to Pollute Them All

Importing Harm: U.S. Ports' Impacts on Health and Communities

Health Impacts of Shipping

Cruise Ships are the Biggest Black Carbon Polluters

Ship Pollution: From Air to Ocean

Black Trail: A video documentary

Cruise Ship Pollution: A Tale of Titanic Tyranny

8 Ways in which Cruise Ships Can Cause Marine Pollution

Cruise industry faces choppy seas as it tries to clean…

Cruise Ship Pollution Is Causing Serious Health And ...

Ocean Liner's Environmental Burden

PRINCESS CRUISES - FINAL GRADE: "D"

How Cruise Ships Bring 1,200 Tons of Toxic Fumes…

Cruise tourists overwhelm Europe’s ancient resorts

Amsterdam is banning cruise ships

Pollutants fall 80% after cruise ship ban

“Cruisezillas”: How much bigger can cruise ships get?

A cruise ship's emissions are the same as 1 million cars

China cap restricts fuels and scrubber

Shipping's Dirty Secret

Cruises are an environmental disaster

Cruise Ship Pollution

Underwater noise emissions from ships

Environmental Impact of Cruise Ships and Cruise Vacations

 Environmental Impacts of Gas Scrubber Discharge

Impact of Scrubber Discharge

Scrubber Sludge

Ship Scrubbers and How Are They Polluting 

Scrubbers - Air to Water Pollution

Scrubber Fact Sheet

No Scrub Countries and Ports

Turning Air Pollution into Water Pollution

Cruise Ships Damage Seabed

24 Scientists Oppose Cruise Ship Port

York River and Cruise Ship Pollution 

New York Ship Pollution Limits

Methane slip: LNG’s Achilles heel

 Sources and Leakages of Microplastics in Cruise Ship Wastewater 


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