While there has been a significant increase in the number of people opting to take cruise trips, experts point out the substantial damage that cruise ships have wrought upon the environment.

A new report released by Europe’s Transport and Environment campaign group shows that Carnival Cruise Line released more harmful pollution than Glasgow, Scotland’s biggest city, throughout 2023.

Based on the group’s analysis, Carnival released the greatest amount of pollutants, with MSC Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line coming in second and third respectively.

Tale of the tape

It was noted in the study that Carnival’s ships collectively released nearly 2.5 million tonnes of carbon, one of the most problematic greenhouse gases. 

A report from December of last year likewise revealed that Carnival’s 63-ship was responsible for more sulfur oxide pollution in 2022 than all of the cars in Europe combined.

It was also noted that, compared to air travel, cruise ships actually cause more pollution per person per mile. 

According to Transport and Environment shipping policy manager Jacob Armstrong: “The larger companies have more vessels and bigger ships. But bigger isn’t better when it comes to emissions.” 

Not enough

Though a number of cruise lines introduced scrubbers to reduce air pollution, the heavy metals, oil, fuel, and harmful pollutants these systems collect are often mixed with seawater and released directly into the ocean. 

This process doesn’t reduce pollution but merely shifts where it is released, which may cause harm to marine life and delicate ocean systems. 

Another study conducted in Sweden revealed that effluvium from ships using scrubber technology in the Baltic Sea caused pollution that corresponded to around US$720 million in socio-economic costs between 2014 and 2022.

Is anyone doing anything about this?

To be fair, global cruise lines are trying to mitigate the situation by incorporating new technology and upgrades to help reduce their environmental impact.

Despite this, many observers remain sceptical about their sustainability efforts.

At the same time, a number of key European cities introduced cruise ship restrictions this year in part due to worries about environmental impacts.

Moreover, a number of American cities in states like Alaska, California, and Florida which are prime cruise destinations have demanded restrictions regarding waste disposal from cruise ships; some have even gone so far as to demand a total ban against cruise ships from their ports.