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
Do you know this former Royal Caribbean crew member?
He’s on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s "Most Wanted" List. Here’s the story:
In 1993, Michael Evangelos Psomadakis was the chief engineer aboard RCCL’s Nordic Empress cruise ship which routinely discharged oil into the water. But the Nordic Empress was no island to itself. RCCL’s
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.
This week was another interesting week in the strange world of cruise law. Just consider:
A Cruise CEO With Billions of Dollars But No Soul?
Carnival Cruise’s CEO Billionaire Mickey Arison was named the richest man in Florida again by 
Fortune magazine with a net worth of $4,100,000,000. So why does he pay his injured and ill crew
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
Today – Earth Day – is special because our maritime law firm works in a specialized area of the law. Everything we handle is related to the world’s oceans and seas. Earlier today, our superstar legal intern, Caitlin Burke, wrote an excellent article entitled Earth Day – Spotlight on Cruising – A Dirty Business.
We know that