Q. “There is great emphasis on the environmental impact of cruises, but what would be the impact on the lives of all passengers and staff living on the cowshed during the same period? ”
Michel Lasalle
R. Your question is timely. After being hit hard by the pandemic, the cruise industry is restarting. the Los Angeles Times recently reported that Carnival Corp, the largest company in the industry, has already recorded more bookings for the second half of 2022 than for the same period in 2019.
Cruise companies say they are making efforts to improve their environmental record. Despite this, it is indisputable that these huge floating hotels are extremely polluting. There are many problems.
The first is that most boats use heavy fuel oil to power their engines. However, this fuel is anything but clean. We instinctively think of CO2 issued, with good reason. Estimates vary widely among the sources consulted, but all agree that emissions from cruise ships far exceed those from cars and even airplanes.
In a peer-reviewed New Zealand study, researchers estimate, for example, that a cruise ship emits somewhere between 250 and 2,200 g of CO2 per passenger per kilometer, depending on the type of boat and the number of passengers. A Montreal-Paris flight, in comparison, generates around 163 g of CO2 per passenger per kilometer, according to the calculators available online.
A family of four in a car emits about 45 g of CO2 per kilometer per passenger.
Read a summary of the New Zealand study
CO2 is far from the only problem, however. Heavy fuel oil also emits huge amounts of sulfur and nitrogen oxides, gases that contribute in particular to the formation of acid rain. A study by the environmental group Transport & Environment calculated that in 2017, the 47 boats of the Carnival Corporation sailing in European waters released 10 times more sulfur dioxide than … all cars in Europe. These figures are not peer reviewed, but it is safe to say that the pollution is real.
Read the study
Boat engines also emit fine particles, and all the more so since almost all of them do not have filters to capture them.
One way to reduce these emissions would be to limit fuel consumption when the boat is moving, and to use the local electricity grid during stopovers. Unfortunately, a minority of companies do so.
Another problem: boats generate all kinds of waste – untreated wastewater, food residues, plastics – in the seas and oceans. Environmental organization Stand estimates that 32 billion liters of wastewater and washwater are released from cruise ships off the coast of British Columbia each year – the equivalent of 13,000 Olympic-size swimming pools. .
Consult the Stand study
Some boats are starting to treat their sewage, but progress is slow.
If you stay on dry land, the energy you consume does not come from heavy fuel oil and the contents of your toilet are treated before returning to the environment. The impact of cruises on the decision to stay at home – or travel otherwise – is therefore very real.
If you nevertheless choose to go on a cruise, the German environmental organization Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union assesses the environmental performance of major companies according to several criteria.
View the most recent report