Most forms of travel have some level of adverse environmental impact and, as countries and borders reopen, we are set to see a resurgence in international and interstate travel in all its forms, so it helps to know what we are dealing with.  Sadly, when it comes to the cruise industry, we are dealing with a lot.

Compared with plane travel, cruise ships have a far greater impact, even when factoring in the additional damage that emissions at high altitude do.  And beyond simple things like emitting more carbon per passenger per kilometre than planes (and approximately three times more than they would produce on land), an overnight stay on board consumes 12 times the energy of an overnight hotel stay.

The environmental impact of cruising extends beyond carbon emissions, it also involves air pollution (from exhaust), water pollution (from the release of contaminants into the ocean — see below), noise pollution (from entertainment) which can be harmful to marine life and actual physical degradation of the marine environment, including already fragile coral reefs.

The largest cruise ships can carry over 7,000 passengers and crew, and a ship of that capacity is estimated to generate nearly 800,000 litres of human sewage and over 3.5 million litres of greywater (waste water from showering, laundering, food preparation, etc.) in a single week. On top of that, huge amounts of contaminated bilge water, ballast water, sewage sludge and other hazardous waste are produced and released into the ocean — as evidenced by the recent criminal penalty received by Princess Cruise Lines. Mountains of waste and rubbish are also produced, estimates are that passengers produce more than four times the amount of rubbish than they would on shore and this often finds its way into the water and onto beaches.

Carbon emissions and air pollution are made worse when lower quality fuel is used. A recent study found that, of the 77 cruise ships surveyed, all but one were using poor quality ‘dirty‘ fuel.  An outcome of this is increased release of nitrogen oxide, which is linked to acid rain as well as a range of health issues.

Then there are the more localised issues of the impact on the regions the cruise ships visit — whether that be degradation of the physical environment, both land and the sea, or from the impact of passengers who arrive in such disproportionally large numbers. There are also reports of harm to local regions beyond the environmental, with accounts of financial exploitation of local economies.

It’s all a bit yuck isn’t it? So, if you are planning an overseas holiday, maybe give a holiday on the seas a wide berth. Planet Ark does not take responsibility for the accuracy of the original information and encourages readers to check the references before using this information for their own purposes.