How about Me?: The Environment's POV in Cruise Tourism Industry
Everyone wants and loves to take a vacation to relax and recharge once in a while. But what if that vacation allows you to have a luxury journey at sea and visit different cruise destinations around? This travel opportunity thus makes sailing a transformative and once-in-a-lifetime experience as it brings you and the people on it into contact with sun, water, and open air.
Asero and Skonieczny (2017) define cruise tourism as a luxurious and entertaining form of traveling, involving an all-inclusive holiday on a cruise ship of at least 48 hours, with a set and specific itinerary, in which the cruise ship calls at several ports or cities. Nowadays, cruise tourism includes a variety of facilities and amenities, giving its guests a much more comfortable and enjoyable travel experience to all travelers. Cruising encompasses all four features of tourism - transport, accommodation, attractions, and tour operators - and it is therefore a major competitor to other forms of tourism. As cruise tourism becomes one of the growing travel sectors, operators will surely build new modern, high-tech ships with the latest leisure opportunities to cater to its target market from the Mediterranean to the Pacific Ocean. Some examples of the most popular cruise destinations by cruise passengers are the Caribbean and the Bahamas, the Mediterranean, the Atlantic Islands, and Northern Europe. However, because cruise ships encompass the features of tourism, it offers a wide range of its services, the cruising industry leaves strong consequences for the environment (Ć poljariÄ, 2020).
In the 1990s, cruise tourism was mostly an elite privilege. At the beginning of the 20th century, the number doubled and its market was mostly wealthy senior holiday-makers as it is their symbol of classiness and a luxurious lifestyle. The growth of people traveling in cruise ships in limited areas for a brief period and the number of ports is an opportunity for destinations to contribute to their economic development. Meanwhile, parallel to the success of the industry is also the environmental impact it leaves on the destinations created by cruise tourism. However, its negative impacts raise the question of sustainable development, carrying capacity of destination, and environmental impact such as pollution waste of resources, destruction of natural and cultural resources, and, most importantly, the health of its locals. It was also found our by Asero & Skonieczny (2017) that when big ships arrive at small destinations the phenomena of congestion arise causing impacts not only on the environment. Consequently, this industry is defined by Sweeting and Wayne as a polluter, spilling oil and dumping garbage at seaâ despite the fact that many cruise lines are now implementing practices and procedures to minimize their impacts on the environment. Indeed, the cruise industry is still in conflict with the sustainability paradigm.Â
One of the negative impacts of traveling by cruise is the effect on the climate with greenhouse gas emissions, particularly carbon dioxide. According to Oceana (n.d), over 90 percent of world trade is carried across the worldâs oceans by some 90,000 marine vessels. Like all modes of transportation that use fossil fuels, ships produce carbon dioxide emissions that significantly contribute to global climate change and acidification. Besides carbon dioxide ships also release a handful of other pollutants that contribute to the problem. The shipping industry is responsible for a significant proportion of the global climate change problem. More than three percent of global carbon dioxide emissions can be attributed to ocean-going ships. This is an amount comparable to major carbon-emitting countries â and the industry continues to grow rapidly. In fact, if global shipping were a country, it would be the sixth largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions. Only the United States, China, Russia, India, and Japan emit more carbon dioxide than the worldâs shipping fleet. Nevertheless, carbon dioxide emissions from ocean-going vessels are currently unregulated.
Another pressing issue that cruise tourism faces is the amount of waste and pollution in the waters and land. When visitors leave, the locals are left to deal with the waste and sewage from the cruiserâs activities since they live in the destination. Ć poljariÄ (2020) states that on a typical one-week voyage, a cruise ship generates more than 50 tons of garbage and one million tons of gray (wastewater), 210,000 liters of sewerage, and 25,000 liters of oil-contaminated water. It was also found that a cruise shipâs daily waste is estimated at about 3 to 4 kg per passenger. Moreover, the wastewater from cruise ships is hazardous to the ecosystems and to humans that depend on these, especially for food. Though this problem directly affects the environment, the people themselves are the ones who will face the long term consequences that may affect their food source.Â
For many years, many big cruise lines are responsible for different environmental crimes or offenses because of the detrimental impacts they produce on the environment. In 2016, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) fined Princess Cruises worth $40 million for multiple offenses, particularly for polluting the seas and trying to cover it up. The cruise line admitted to seven felony charges of illegally dumping oil-contaminate waste from the Caribbean Princess cruise ship which sailed to numerous U.S. states and two territories. In addition, the DOJ stated that the Caribbean Princess had been illegally discharging oil since 2005 using bypass equipment to circumvent pollution-prevention equipment that separates oil and monitors oil levels in the shipâs waste (Walker, 2016). The corporation has also been fined heavily for dumping plastic into the ocean and exceeding limits on air pollution quotas too. Consequently, Carnival Corporation, the corporate parent for 10 major lines including the Princess Cruises, is on federal criminal probation in the United States for environmental crimes (Daunton, 2021).Â
Oil spill from Cruises
As mentioned previously, cruising is not only affecting the environment but also the health of locals from different cruise destinations. In a recent comprehensive study in 2021 titled  âEnvironmental and Human Health Impacts of Cruise Tourism: a Review" by Josep Lloret, Arnau Carreño Hrvoje CariÄ, Joan San, Lora E. Fleming, the research team spanning from Spain, Croatia, and the UK, finds that the cruise ship industry is a potential source of physical and mental human health risks, to passengers, staff and land-based residents who live near ports or work in shipyards. Risks to specific groups include the spread of infectious diseases, including COVID-19 outbreaks widely reported on some cruise ships. The review also found evidence of the impacts of noise and air pollution on health, and difficult working environments for boat and shipyard staff potentially resulting in injury and mental health issues.
With all that have been mentioned above, the question now is how cruises take action that does not only benefit themselves but also their stakeholders in the long run. In a news article written by Hines in 2020, Brian Salerno, the senior vice president of maritime policy at Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA)Â mentioned that cruise industry has taken steps toward being green on its own accord and in accordance with the International Maritime Organizationâs set MARPOL rules. The focused four areas of improvement to reduce cruisingâs environment impact, including controlling emissions, sewage treatment, fuel efficiency and recycling Hines (2020).Â
In the first area named âcontrolling emissionsâ, the industry is beggining to control emissions by using an exhaust gas cleaning system (EGCS), a system that can reduce sulfure oxide levels by as much as 98% and can reduce nitrogen oxides up to 12%. It is written that starting last year in 1st of January in 2020, the entire shipping world, including cruise ships, was required to reduce pollutants by using EGCS, using fuel with a lower sulfur level or using an alternative fuel source. The cruise industry needs to be compliant with regulations in the U.S. and on a global scale, however, according to FOE, cruises are still using heavy fuel oil and just treating the problem. On the other hand, newer ships are benign designed to operate on clean alternative fuels including liquefied natural gas (LNG), which has lower sulfur emissions, but sill not an answer to the climate problem.Â
Sewage treatment is the second area of focus by cruise lines and it is said that advanced wastewater treatment systems are installed on all new ships and many older ones, as well. They include advanced filtration and disinfecting technology that exceeds regulatory requirements put in place by the IMO. FOE further states that in terms of waste, the industry has done better over the last several years. Putting in advanced wastewater treatment systems has been a good step forward.
The next focus area would be fuel efficiency. According to CLIA, cruise lines have made their ships more fuel efficient by implementing a few different tactics, such as adding air lubrication systems to many ship hulls, which reduce drag and fuel consumption. Those reductions lead to greater efficiency as do energy-efficient engines that consume less fuel, however not all ships have those systems in place yet though
The last focus area would be recycling. Like any other onshore accommodation, cruises have been doing what they can to reduce single-use plastics. FOE said that many cruise lines have adopted policies against the use of single-use plastic. Some of these cruise lines that took an action against waste are the Norwegian Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean, and the Carnival Corporation. Being part of removing single-use plastics in business is a positive step forward for the industry as it will leave a long-term result of saving the seas and the people. One of the actions taken by the Norwegian Cruise Line was to eliminate single-use plastics last 2020 by partnering with rapper, actor, and activist Jaden Smith's JUST Goods Inc. to use paper cartons for water.
Water in paper cartons by JUST Goods Inc
With the development of cruising tourism, there is still a handful of negatives that may occur such as degradation of the environment, pollution, waste of resources, disturbances to wildlife, and the health of the locals from cruise destinations. An environmental organization named Friends of the Earth (FOE) emphasized that travel by cruise can be more harmful to the environment and human health than other forms of travel. In recent years, modern tourists are increasingly turning to sustainability, and many call for sustainable tourism development actions. Moreover, CLIA, DOJ, and FOE said that the four areas mentioned to reduce cruisingâs environmental impact are still not enough, and so, the cruise industry has still a long way to go Hines (2020). In conclusion, even though the industry has made efforts by adapting to environmental good practices, cruise operators, international organizations, NGOs, and other relevant stakeholders must collaborate and create international laws and sustainable development actions, and change the corporate culture from the top to minimize the serious environmental, social and health impacts, and for them to give high importance to environmental compliance and standards as the top priorities. With these in mind, a change is more likely to occur and our future generations will be able to enjoy what we enjoy in the present time.Â
References
Asero, V., & Skonieczny, S. (2017, December 27). Cruise Tourism and Sustainability in the Mediterranean. Destination Venice. 10.5772/intechopen.71459
Daunton, N. (2021, December 12). Cruise ships hurt the environment, people and local communities - and they donât pay taxes. Euronews. Retrieved December 6, 2022, from https://www.euronews.com/travel/2021/12/09/cruise-ships-hurt-the-environment-people-and-local-communities-and-they-don-t-pay-taxes
Hines, M. (2020, January 21). Cruise ship environmental impacts: How is the industry going green? USA Today. Retrieved December 6, 2022, from https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2020/01/21/cruise-ship-environmental-impacts-how-industry-going-green/2844697001/