Today, a Royal Caribbean crew member sent me a photograph of the soot-stained deck of the Wonder of the Seas with the following comments:
“This photo of black soot is taken on open deck of the Wonder of the Seas cruise ship. Working on open deck, I’m exposed to this constantly. At least 2 times
The Court Appointed Monitor (CAM) in the criminal environmental case pending against Carnival Corporation filed a 100 page report this morning which outlines numerous ongoing environmental violations committed by Carnival and several of its brands in the last 90 days.
The CAM stated that Carnival’s violations during this quarter included incidents related to:
This past week, the Carnival Freedom cruise ship was photographed belching thick black smoke while arriving in George Town, Grand Cayman.
The photograph was taken by an individual who wishes to remain anonymous.
It was taken on Tuesday, October 29th. The twelve-year old Carnival ship left Galveston, Texas on the evening of October 27th and
Cruise ships are a major source of air pollution which causes and/or contributes to a wide range of serious health problems such as respiratory ailments, lung disease, cancer and premature deaths. The pollutants from ship engines exhaust gases include sulfer oxides(SOx) as well as non-combustible particulate matter and black carbon. A video of a Carnival
Yesterday the webcam in the port of Nassau in the Bahamas showed the +20 year old Carnival Victory belching thick black smoke from its funnel.
PTZtv which operates the webcam tweeted the two minute video with the caption “no smoke without . . . ? – – hard to imagine anything good happening here.”
The
A cruise ship captain is on trial in France on charges of violating pollution laws designed to address health concerns over air pollution caused by ferries and huge cruise ships. According to the Telegraph newspaper, France has charged U.S. captain Evans Hoyt, age 58, for breaking Europe’s air emission laws by authorizing the burning of
The cruise industry is touting a report titled Evaluation of Cruise Industry, Global Environmental Practices and Performance.
It’s a non-critical summary paid for by the industry’s trade organization, the Cruise Line International Association ("CLIA"). The report is largely a PR stunt which omits the relevant, recent history of the practice committed over the course
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Seatrade Cruise News reports that Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises recently settled all claims related to alleged violations of the Alaska Marine Visible Emissions Standards that occurred over an earlier five-year period on certain ships.
Last year, we reported that the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation issued notices of violation to a number of cruise lines
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On the recent #WorldOceansDay which trended on Twitter this week, the cruise industry’s trade organization, the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA), and CLIA travel agents tweeted photos of pristine aqua-colored waters and a beautiful healthy reef in what appears to be an idyllic location somewhere in the Pacific.
They posted tweets claiming to be
This week I ran across a video of a "quadcopter" (also called a quadrotor helicopter or a quadrocopter) flying over the beach in Fort Lauderdale.
What’s interesting is that the quadcopter quickly catches up with Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas. It flies behind and far over the giant cruise ship for a few
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A local CBS news station (WBZ) in Boston reports that although cruising is a popular vacation, there are significant environmental downsides. The massive cruise ships burn the dirtiest type of fuel in the world, even when they’re sitting in port.
There are schools, playgrounds and residences in the neighborhoods which surrounds the port in Boston.
The Smart Planet blog has an interesting article about the effects of the ever growing cruise industry upon ports in Asia.
Entitled Hong Kong Contends with Pollution from a Growing Cruise Industry, the article reveals the extent to which cruise lines are still burning bunker fuel while not even equipping their ships with the
Five years ago, the Bush administration proposed legislation prohibiting the use of maritime fuels with high sulfur content within 200 miles of the U.S. The Obama administration had the bill passed into law. In turn, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) announced that it planned to create a buffer zone around the U.S. and Canada where
A couple of years ago I blogged about the nastiest fuel on the planet – bunker fuel. It’s the dredge at the bottom of oil refineries, a nasty tar like substance which is impossible to be completely burned. It leaves non-combustible particles that blacken the sky and, if inhaled, cause lung disease, cancer, asthma
In commemoration of "Earth Day" last week, the cruise industry’s trade organization, the Cruise Line International Organization ("CLIA"), issued a PR statement praising itself for being a champion of protecting the environment.
The PR statement was entitled "Cruise Industry Continues to Build on Successful Track Record as Environmental Stewards of the Seas They Sail
Yesterday the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the state of California can regulate the shipping and cruise industries and require vessels that call on the state’s ports to use cleaner fuel.
One of the problems with the cruise industry is that cruise ship use diesel and nasty bunker fuels which spew toxic particulate matter into the air.
Canada’s Globe and Mail reports today that the cruise industry is lobbying Canada lawmakers to try and avoid the clean air regulations passed two months ago by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
As we reported in April, Over Cruise Industry’s Objection, IMO Creates Air Pollution Buffer Around U.S. and Canada. The IMO voted to enact regulations requiring
Continuing with Cruise Law News’ Top 10 Reasons Not To Cruise, we reach reason number 9 not to cruise:
Bunker Fuel – Nasty Tar Sludge!
This reason is personal to me.
My Dad is an oil man. In the 1960’s we lived in Texas and Oklahoma as kids when my Dad worked for seismic
