Luxury ‘cruise craze’ raises health concerns

SHIPPING NEWS: Cruise ship season is in full swing in WA with a fleet of luxury hotels due to dock in Fremantle in the next couple of months.
The multi-storey vessels carry thousands of people, generate jobs and millions of dollars for the local economy and in their wake produce tonnes of waste and greenhouse gases which affect human health and the environment.
The World Economic Forum says if international shipping was a country it would be the sixth biggest global producer of polluting greenhouse gases, in particular carbon dioxide.
It says cruise ships emit more CO2 per passenger than people travelling on planes. So while you may feel better paying a few extra dollars to reduce your carbon footprint when you fly, the environmental impact triples when you step on a cruise ship travelling to popular destinations for weeks or months. So are passenger ships a hazard to people and the environment?
Maritime shipping – tankers, bulk carriers, passenger ships, barges and ferries – is responsible for about three per cent of global CO2 emissions.
Cruise ships account for only a small proportion, but their impact is significant when measured in terms of brief turnarounds (weeks) in which they burn more fuel.
Owners, operators and design companies have adopted new decarbonisation technologies and more efficient ways to reduce waste production and air pollution in jurisdictions they regularly visit and operate in. Fuelled by environmentally-conscious customers, they are increasingly invested in recycling and waste processing, solar panels, energy efficient appliances, even silicone-lined hulls which can reduce drag and save as much as five per cent of fuel use.
The global fleet of cruise ships consists of about 50 cruise lines operating (not simultaneously) more than 400 vessels with a capacity of nearly 600,000 passengers.
In recent decades,  average ship size also has increased about 27m every five years. Today, the average cruise ship entering the market is more than 320m long and weighs more than 130,000 tons (Icon of the Seas is 365m long and accommodates up to 7600 passengers).
With lifespans of about 20 to 25 years, the majority of ships are foreign flagged, with Liberia and Panama the most popular flag countries.
In 2017, 17 new ships joined the fleet while 17 old ships were decommissioned or scrapped. In 2021, 27 new ships joined the fleet. Another 14 joined in 2023.
Cruise ships continue to be built bigger, with new designs accommodating thousands of passengers whose oceanic footprint is expected to grow within the next few years.
More than 20 million passengers travelled on cruise ships in 2022, more than 30 million in 2023 and about 35 million forecast in 2024.
Just as electric-powered cars are expected to replace fuel guzzlers, experts say cruise ships must make the transition to clean energy if the industry is to survive.
With more destinations, attractive travel packages and promise of that Titanic moment with a loved one, cruising increasingly attracts people from all walks of life, not just retirees.
But at what cost?

Cruise craze

THE State Government wants to ride the wave of the ‘cruise craze’, Tourism WA’s ‘Cruise Tourism Strategic Plan 2023-2033’ promoting WA as, “a world-class cruise shipping destination”.
In WA, the cruise sector injected a reported $333 million into the State last year across all ports, with 33 cruise ships having berthed in Fremantle.
“We will continue to work with the global cruise industry to bring more ships to our shores,” WA Tourism Minister Rita Saffioti beamed last year. “After restarting the industry in 2022 following two years of closed borders, the WA Government remains committed to building the state’s cruise tourism sector.”
According to Tourism WA’s strategic plan, ‘net carbon neutral cruising’ by 2050 incorporates, “a range of innovative solutions including advanced recycling protocols, waste-to-energy initiatives, energy efficient ship design, supply chain sustainability programs, reverse osmosis water filtration systems and pursuit of alternative fuels”.
It adds: “By 2028, the Cruise Line Industry Association member fleet will include 38 LNG powered cruise ships and 100 per cent will be fitted with advanced wastewater treatment systems.”
Ship waste consists of sewage, wastewater from sinks, showers and galleys (greywater), hazardous wastes, oily bilge water, ballast water and air pollutants including CO2 and sulphur and nitrogen dioxides.
German pollution analyst company Axel Friedrich says a single cruise ship can emit more than five tonnes of nitrogen dioxide emissions every day and emit more sulphur than several million cars.
The volume of ship wastes is greater than that of many small cities. It is estimated during a one-week voyage, a cruise ship with 3000 passengers can generate 790,000 litres of sewage; 3800 cubic metres of greywater; more than 490 litres of hazardous wastes; eight tons of solid waste; and 95 cubic metres of oily bilge water. A single passenger can produce up to 3.5kg of waste in one day.
Greywater can lead to oxygen depletion, spread pathogenic bacteria and viruses and increase nutrient levels in sensitive ecosystems.
High nutrient levels can lead to toxic blooms that can disrupt food chains.How this waste is dealt with is governed by a number of international protocols and domestic laws, regulations and standards.
But there is no single law or rule to regulate and enforce them.
Cruise ships also are energy intensive, with medium-sized ships using about 4000 litres of fuel per hour. Bigger ships use more. The amount of carbon dioxide produced by a big ship is calculated to be greater than 12,000 cars. One night on a cruise uses 12 times more energy than one night at a hotel.
Stanford University civil and environmental engineering professor Mark Jacobson says the type of fuel a cruise ship burns is important. Bunker fuel is the dirtiest, consisting of a thick tar-like fuel called black carbon (the second leading contributor to global warming after CO2).
It is estimated that the average CO2 emissions for a 3000-passenger cruise is 1200kg per kilometre, with trips covering thousands of kilometres.
Professor Jacobson says black carbon when burned by ships near the Arctic and Antarctic can settle on sea ice and snow and make them melt faster. In the atmosphere, it can affect cloud formation and when washed out through precipitation, pollute the oceans and affect marine life.
The EPA warns the pollutant also referred to as soot is linked to cardiovascular disease, cancer and even birth defects. Particulate matter emissions are responsible for tens of thousands of cardiopulmonary and lung cancer deaths annually, mostly in European, East Asian and South Asian coastal areas.

Port pollution

PORTS including Fremantle are vital links, gateways connected to transport corridors carrying thousands of visitors to popular tourist destinations in WA. Ports also have a carbon footprint.
Due to their proximity to densely populated areas, port traffic can generate air pollution that can have an impact on the atmosphere, local environment and human health.
This is highlighted in a Technical University of Crete study of 2013 cruise ship emissions (nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and fine particles less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter) in the five busiest cruise ports of Greece (Piraeus, Santorini, Mykonos, Corfu and Katakolo).
“Ports are influenced by maritime emissions contributing particularly to local air pollution,” the authors write. “In harbour cities, maritime activity creates a problem of great acuteness for urban pollution, causing environmental problems affecting both human health and ecosystems.”
Importantly, the authors found there was little detailed work on cruise ship emissions and its impact on urbanised ports in the scientific literature.
In 2020, Europe’s 218 cruise ships emitted as much sulphur oxides as one billion passenger vehicles. In Venice, air pollutants including SO2 fell 80 per cent when the City banned big cruise ships in 2021.
Barcelona was Europe’s most polluted city in 2022, having emitted nearly three times more SO2 than all the cars in the city, followed by Civitavecchia near Rome and Athenian port of Piraeus.
Cruise operators are increasingly investing in ‘hybrid’ ships powered by LNG (liquified natural gas). LNG is one of the cleanest fuels which can cut SO2 emissions by up to 99 per cent and NOx emissions by up to 85 per cent, and produce virtually no particulates or ash.
However, methane is the main component of LNG and when released in the air, referred to as ‘methane slip’. Methane is responsible for about 30 per cent of global warming.
More than 20 LNG ships have joined the global fleet including AIDAsol, the world’s first cruise ship to use LNG fuel. Most of the ships due in Fremantle are fuelled by LNG, including AIDAsol, which left the port city on Thursday.
Sixty per cent of the more than 40 new ships ordered until 2028 will use LNG as a fuel source.
However, the European Federation for Transport and Environment notes 63 cruise ships owned by Carnival Corporation emitted more sulphur oxides than all the cars in Europe in 2022.
One of the biggest LNG-powered cruise ships MS Iona emitted as much methane in 2022 as 10,500 dairy cows produced in a year: “The entire fleet of LNG-powered cruise ships emitted in European EEZs in 2022 as much methane as 62,000 cows.”
The International Maritime Organisation has revised emissions reduction targets in line with the Paris Agreement, but legally binding measures for their implementation are needed to direct the sector towards net zero emissions by 2050. This will require a 15 per cent reduction in emissions from now to 2030.
Shipping campaigner Constance Dijkstra believes LNG is not the ideal solution, but hydrogen is. He said switching from oil to gas is like, “trading smoking for alcohol. It may help the cruise ship industry to reduce air pollution but it is terrible from a climate perspective”.
He says to future-proof the sector, “we need to move ships towards green hydrogen-based fuels”.
Andrew Forrest?