Cruise ship pollution

Does a cruise ship pollute? Yes, yes and yes.

When we talk about polluting the planet, we think first and foremost of motor vehicles, but there is also aviation. Indeed, these two means of transport are responsible for the release of large CO² (carbon monoxide) emissions into the atmosphere. And in this gigantic pollution, we forget to talk about cruise ships, these behemoths that pollute more than thousands of cars and are a nightmare for the environment... and municipalities.

Indeed, studies on pollution, carried out on the 94 ships of a cruise company show that they release 10 times more sulfur oxide than the car fleet of 260 million vehicles in Europe.

Another example: in Marseille, a major cruise terminal, in 2017, 57 ships stopped for 3,342 hours. During this period, they emitted as much nitrogen oxide as 85,000 vehicles, or a quarter of the city's vehicle fleet.

Other tourist countries in Europe, such as Greece, Spain and Italy, are particularly impacted by these floating cities of several thousand tourists.

The city of Barcelona has become one of the most polluted cities in Europe due, on the one hand, to the oxide emissions of the 800 boats that stop there each year and, on the other hand, to the "mass tourism" generated, i.e. 1 million cruise passengers, and for Europe it is 8 million per year.

What type of fuel to sail a cruise ship?

This is fuel oil, an ultra-polluting oil residue, much more polluting than diesel due to its sulfur content, with harmful repercussions on the environment.

Its fuel consumption is higher than that of other large ships. It varies of course depending on its speed, the weather and the state of the sea and consumes approximately 60 to 150 tonnes per day.

Pollution caused by a cruise ship at a standstill:

Even at the dock, such a ship never stops. The engines run to supply electricity to the kitchens, restaurants, recreation rooms, bedrooms, air conditioning, not to mention the general maintenance of the ship. It is a village of 5,000 to 8,000 inhabitants who live along the length of the ship.

Fine particle emissions have been measured at the Marseille terminal, they are measured at a level twice as high as in the old port.

The impact on health: pollution and nuisances.

It remains very significant since each stop in a port is equivalent to the pollution of a million cars. (fine particles and nitrogen dioxide)

A study shows that maritime transport is responsible for the deaths of 50,000 to 60,000 people in Europe.

Damage at sea:

Oceans polluted by the discharge of wastewater (sinks, showers, toilets, laundries, kitchens, etc.) even after passing through a purification system. It is estimated that a boat with more than 3,000 people thus discharges some 3 million liters of wastewater into the sea per week, which of course has consequences for marine fauna, ecosystems and the destruction of the seabed.

It therefore seems easy to understand that more and more cities are refusing to stop these giants of the sea, which have a considerable impact on the environment and health.