Do cruise ships dump raw sewage into the ocean?

[Holden von Vloppen]

I got a disturbing e-mail that said cruise ships are dumping raw sewage and garbage into the oceans. Is this true? The e-mail singled out AIDA and TUI cruise lines as the culprits. If that's true, I'm certainly not going to patronize those lines.

 

I thought all cruise ships and ocean liners stored all sewage and garbage and then emptied their waste containers when they got into port. So far the only cruise line I've patronized is Carnival. I also really want to cruise Celebrity and Cunard. I hope none of these lines are offenders.

 

Here's the info page the e-mail sent me. If anyone has any info about whether it's claims are accurate, I'd appreciate a heads up.

 

The link:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/600/421/177/?z00m=20167446

[smeyer418]

I got a disturbing e-mail that said cruise ships are dumping raw sewage and garbage into the oceans. Is this true? The e-mail singled out AIDA and TUI cruise lines as the culprits. If that's true, I'm certainly not going to patronize those lines.

 

I thought all cruise ships and ocean liners stored all sewage and garbage and then emptied their waste containers when they got into port. So far the only cruise line I've patronized is Carnival. I also really want to cruise Celebrity and Cunard. I hope none of these lines are offenders.

 

Here's the info page the e-mail sent me. If anyone has any info about whether it's claims are accurate, I'd appreciate a heads up.

 

The link:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/600/421/177/?z00m=20167446

 

 

yes they dump treated sewerage at sea. Some garbage is stored, some is dumped(food items are minced and dropped at least x miles offshore).

 

pretty much all the cruise lines have been fined for dumping violations.

 

http://www.cruisejunkie.com/envirofines.html

 

oh the search engines on the internet can bring up wondrous things...

Edited January 6, 2012 by smeyer418

[CruiserBruce]

Per International law, cruise ships are allowed to dump a small amount of waste, after it has been highly processed and it's hazard level reduced significantly. This is mostly food waste and some liquid waste. No oil or similar.

 

Believe me the standards are rigid. Yes, most cruise lines have been fined, however, the gross violations were years back. Now, the cruise lines get fined if an onboard smoker throws a butt overboard.

 

Most of the items mentioned in smeyer418's link, while violations, are highly technical and not typically gross violations.

Edited January 6, 2012 by CruiserBruce

[Putterdude]

While a little out of date, this link will show the direction that the cruise lines are going on the topic of their environmental footprint. Many if not all cruiselines have an officer aboard whose job in nothing other than to ensure that environmental standards and local laws are adhered to.

 

http://www2.cruising.org/industry/environment.cfm

[Aquahound]

I got a disturbing e-mail that said cruise ships are dumping raw sewage and garbage into the oceans. Is this true? The e-mail singled out AIDA and TUI cruise lines as the culprits. If that's true, I'm certainly not going to patronize those lines.

 

I thought all cruise ships and ocean liners stored all sewage and garbage and then emptied their waste containers when they got into port. So far the only cruise line I've patronized is Carnival. I also really want to cruise Celebrity and Cunard. I hope none of these lines are offenders.

 

Modern technologies allow for it to be treated and most ships now have environmental officers on board monitoring this process. The solids are separated, dried, and then burned. What's dumped is purified to near (reportedly) drinking standards.

 

However, the standard for dumping sewage is typically 12 miles from shore and it does happen on several ships, especially older ships.

[Hlitner]

Once upon a time nearly all the cruise ships dumped unpleasant things into the sea (and many were assessed fines by the US Coast Guard. But the US-based cruise lines eventually underwent a major attitude shift and they designed very environmentally friendly disposal systems into their newer ships. As mentioned in another post, all the major cruise lines have also created an "Environment Officer" position which is a senior officer (on each ship) responsible for all things environmental. The article that is cited by the OP specifically mentions two German lines (seldom seen in US waters) and one can assume that there are still some companies that need to "wise up" when it comes to environmental issues.

 

Hank

[BruceMuzz]

The largest fleet of ships in the world is the US Navy.

Many of those ships do not treat sewage or garbage, dumping it straight into the seas. They claim that in the interests of "National Defense", they can get away with this.

You be the judge.

 

Most cruise ships are required - and policed by the US Navy - to treat and process black water, grey water, and other wastes before putting them in to the ocean at specific places.

 

Sadly, many ports where cruise ships call are still dumping garbage and untreated sewage directly into our oceans. Boston, New York, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle are some of the biggest offenders.

[Aquahound]

Most cruise ships are required - and policed by the US Navy - to treat and process black water, grey water, and other wastes before putting them in to the ocean at specific places.

 

Cruise ships are not policed by the U.S. Navy.

[navybankerteacher]

Cruise ships do not dump raw sewage - they do release treated waste when sufficiently far off shore. As a practical matter, treated waaste (hopefully very well treated) constitutes part of the regular water supply in many areas.

[BruceMuzz]

Cruise ships are not policed by the U.S. Navy.

 

That's odd. The 25 cruise ships I have managed are monitored with US Navy infra-red cameras aimed at our smoke stacks to measure smoke density.

We are inspected every year by US Coast Guard for safety equipment and safety drills.

US Navy claims jurisdiction over all the 7 seas as far as emissions, traffic, and cargos are concerned. My ships (not US Flagged) have frequently been required (not requested) to participate in US Navy exercises on the open seas.

 

If we spill even one drop of fuel into the ocean, we are required to report it to US Coast Guard and US Navy.

 

Has the US Navy stopped doing this recently?

[LadyShiva]

I swear, I learn something new from this website every day. Thanks for that info, BruceMuzz: https://portal.navfac.navy.mil/portal/page/portal/NAVFAC/NAVFAC_WW_PP/NAVFAC_NFESC_PP/ENVIRONMENTAL/PS

 

I had no idea! Very neat that the US Navy is involved in those aims!

[Vampire Parrot]

I'll briefly describe the Gray, Black and Bilge water systems on Vista (Zuiderdam, Arcadia, etc) class ships. I expect that the systems on other modern cruise ships are similar.

 

Gray water (from showers, sinks, laundry, whirlpool, etc) is collected and filtered through a vibrating filter system to remove solids. The solids are dried and incinerated. The filtered water is passed through a low pressure reverse-osmosis systtem to remove any remaining particles. The now almost-clear water is subjected to UV treatment to sterilize it, and it can then be discharged overboard when the ship is more than 12nm from the coast and travelling at more than four knots. Time, quantity discharged, and positioned of discharged are all logged.

 

Black water (toilets, grey-water concentrate, galley water, etc) goes through a series of treatments. Galley water first goes through a grease trap. Toilet water first goes through a screen filter. The black water is then passed through a vibrating fine filter. There are bioreactor systems which decompose the nasty stuff in black water, there is UV treatment to sterilize the water, etc. Again any discharge of the treated water usually takes place 12nm or further from the shore, and the time, quantity discharged, and position of discharge are all logged. In fact the treated water is innocuous enough that some countries permit it to be discharged just over 3nm from their coastline.

 

Untreated bilge water is only pumped overboard in a dire emergency (e.g. a bloody great hole in the hull). Otherwise, the bilge water is pumped into a seperation system which consists of three settling stages. The water is then pumped into an oily water seperator system, and the result is water which is contains less than 15 parts per million of oil. Rain water on the ground in a city usually has a much higher level of oil than this.

 

The treated bilge water can be pumped overboard 12nm from shore - and it goes through a tamperproof oil content metering system which is monitored by cameras and digital data recorders. Again discharges of treated bilge water is logged.

 

VP

 

Edited to add: according the petition which started this thread, one large cruise ship produces as much pollution as over fifty million cars. About 50% of cars bought in Europe since 2007 are diesel - so I'll be generous and say that 10% world-wide are diesel. So this means - according to the petition - that one cruise ship produces as much pollution as five million diesel and 45 million petrol cars. Really...?????

Edited January 7, 2012 by Vampire Parrot

[Holden von Vloppen]

I'll briefly describe the Gray, Black and Bilge water systems on Vista (Zuiderdam, Arcadia, etc) class ships. I expect that the systems on other modern cruise ships are similar.

 

Gray water (from showers, sinks, laundry, whirlpool, etc) is collected and filtered through a vibrating filter system to remove solids. The solids are dried and incinerated. The filtered water is passed through a low pressure reverse-osmosis systtem to remove any remaining particles. The now almost-clear water is subjected to UV treatment to sterilize it, and it can then be discharged overboard when the ship is more than 12nm from the coast and travelling at more than four knots. Time, quantity discharged, and positioned of discharged are all logged.

 

Black water (toilets, grey-water concentrate, galley water, etc) goes through a series of treatments. Galley water first goes through a grease trap. Toilet water first goes through a screen filter. The black water is then passed through a vibrating fine filter. There are bioreactor systems which decompose the nasty stuff in black water, there is UV treatment to sterilize the water, etc. Again any discharge of the treated water usually takes place 12nm or further from the shore, and the time, quantity discharged, and position of discharge are all logged. In fact the treated water is innocuous enough that some countries permit it to be discharged just over 3nm from their coastline.

 

Untreated bilge water is only pumped overboard in a dire emergency (e.g. a bloody great hole in the hull). Otherwise, the bilge water is pumped into a seperation system which consists of three settling stages. The water is then pumped into an oily water seperator system, and the result is water which is contains less than 15 parts per million of oil. Rain water on the ground in a city usually has a much higher level of oil than this.

 

The treated bilge water can be pumped overboard 12nm from shore - and it goes through a tamperproof oil content metering system which is monitored by cameras and digital data recorders. Again discharges of treated bilge water is logged.

 

VP

 

Thanks for the info, VP. That system does sound acceptable. I would hope all cruise lines use something like it and that there are international standards. I want to enjoy the wonderful places in our oceans, not muck them up.

 

I wonder if those German cruise lines mentioned in the petition page are cutting corners and not doing it right. I'm going to keep searching this issue. I didn't sign the petition because I want to get all my facts right before making a decision. I didn't want to just take their word for it.

[Vampire Parrot]

AIDA are part of the Carnival group and will I'm sure conform to the same international standards as the rest of the Carnival group's fleets.

 

I don't know anything about TUI but I have no reason to think they would be any less environmentally aware. I've spent a lot of time in Germany both on business and on holiday, and the German population are very environmentally aware.

 

VP

[Holden von Vloppen]

I did some more searching. It does appear that it's just those two German cruise lines, AIDA and TUI, that are doing a poor job with the environment. They won the "Dinosaur of the Year" award for their environmental practices. I hadn't planned to travel with them, and now I'm certainly not unless they clean up their act. I'm going to stick with my plans to travel with Celebrity and with Cunard.

 

Here are some articles I found:

 

http://www.justmeans.com/Cruise-Ship-Industry-Needs-Embrace-Sustainability-or-Sink/51405.html

 

http://www.thelocal.de/national/20111229-39799.html

 

http://www.*****.com/causes/cruise-ships-win-anti-environment-award-for-2011.html

Edit: part of this link keeps getting auto-bleeped out as if it's a curse word. It's not. After www where those asterisks are the word is "c a r e 2" without the quotes or spaces.

 

http://quaeng.de/aida-tui-cruises-nabu-umwelt-preis-dinosaurier-des-jahres-kreuzfahrt-hafen-hamburg-16559/

(German language)

 

http://www.kindercampus.de/index.php?id=108&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=1054

(German language)

Edited January 7, 2012 by Holden von Vloppen

[Vampire Parrot]

From Olaf Tschimpke, president of Nabu, the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union :“A single ocean trip on a cruise emits the same amount of pollutants as five million cars on the same route,” he said in a statement.

 

The last cruise I took covered about 3500 miles. My car does about 35 miles per gallon, so it would have used (3500/35)*8 = 800 pounds-weight of fuel. 5 million cars would therefore use (800*5000000)/2240=1785714 tons of fuel. Let's call it 1,700,000 tons of fuel. That's a lot of fuel.

 

Arcadia uses about 8 tons per hour at sea, around 2 tons or less per hour in port. Let's use the worst-case scenario, we can't get into any port so we'll just cruise around the ocean at speed so she's using 8 tons per hour for the entire 2 week cruise. That means she'll burn 8*24*14 = 2688 tons. (Which won't please the Chief Engineer, he's now got to explain to the office why the fuel cost was about 1.8 million dollars)

 

So does burning 2688 tons of bunker fuel really create as much pollution as 1,700,000 tons of diesel and gasoline? I agree that the exhaust from Arcadia can be smokey, especially just after engine start. On the other hand, the particulates, the visible particles, fall into the sea fairly quickly and they consist mostly of unburnt carbon which is harmless to sea life.

 

VP

[spookwife]

The largest fleet of ships in the world is the US Navy.

Many of those ships do not treat sewage or garbage, dumping it straight into the seas. They claim that in the interests of "National Defense", they can get away with this.

You be the judge.

 

 

 

Uh WRONG.

 

98% of all waste on board US Naval vessels gets squished into discs and stored on pallets for removal in port. biodegradable and non toxic waste is dumped overboard AFTER being treated. The US Navy has long been 'green' and has been quite proactive with regards to saving the enviornment

[Aquahound]

AIDA are part of the Carnival group and will I'm sure conform to the same international standards as the rest of the Carnival group's fleets.

 

...and TUI is partially owned by Royal Caribbean. However, that does not mean the their ships are up to the standards of the new, modern fleets.

[Barb Nahoumi]

I recently watched a cruise ship program on the Green Planet channel. It was pointed out that bathroom solid waste is incinerated, and the ash offloaded in port.

 

Trash is compacted, and also offloaded in port. Almost nothing is deposited into the ocean.

[GuavaTechAngels]

This recent video shows that 1 billion gallons of human sewage are dumped into oceans every year. And the ships only have to be 3 miles from shore to take a "dump." The video even shows one ship taking a dump sitting in port. It's disgusting.

 

http://www.takepart.com/video/2015/04/23/cruise-info-graphic

 

Most of the ships are treating sewage with 35yr old technology which is inadequate for today's standards. Some ships have updated to modern sewage treatment systems.

 

http://www.foe.org/cruise-report-card

 

Cruise now while the oceans are still blue! hahaha

Edited August 20, 2015 by GuavaTechAngels

[donaldsc]

Let me slightly modify the title of your post - do fish and other sea creatures dump raw untreated sewage into the ocean.

 

Even if cruise ships do dump untreated sewage into the ocean and prior posts have shown that they do not, what is the ratio of ship raw sewage to sea animal raw sewage? I would be willing to bet that there is a whole lot more animal raw sewage than potential ship raw sewage. I am reasonably certain that large fish and mammal sewage dump a whole lot of poop per animal.

 

Basically, I do not plan to worry about the problem especially as the problem is under control for most cruise ships.

 

DON

[AmazedByCruising]

US Navy claims jurisdiction over all the 7 seas as far as emissions, traffic, and cargos are concerned. My ships (not US Flagged) have frequently been required (not requested) to participate in US Navy exercises on the open seas.

 

Just wondering, what kind of Navy exercises would need cruiseships to participate? Piracy?

 

Other question, does this "widened jurisdiction" (Hugo de Groot would object) also apply to foreign-flagged ships that never visit a US port? For instance, could a Maltese ship, owned by a French company, sailing only from Southampton to Venice and back expect a surprise visit by US Navy to check the quality of fuel? A long time ago, we had radio stations broadcasting from the high seas and the only way to finally get them off the air was by punishing the advertisers.

[Shmoo here]

Let me slightly modify the title of your post - do fish and other sea creatures dump raw untreated sewage into the ocean.

 

Even if cruise ships do dump untreated sewage into the ocean and prior posts have shown that they do not, what is the ratio of ship raw sewage to sea animal raw sewage? I would be willing to bet that there is a whole lot more animal raw sewage than potential ship raw sewage. I am reasonably certain that large fish and mammal sewage dump a whole lot of poop per animal.

 

Basically, I do not plan to worry about the problem especially as the problem is under control for most cruise ships.

 

DON

 

http://i59.tinypic.com/34h6gau.png[/img]"]

 

Gotcha!

[navybankerteacher]

Aside from the TREATED biodegradable waste which is dropped miles at sea by US-based cruise ships, has OP any concerns about the PARTIALLY TREATED human waste of millions of people pumped into immediate coastal waters by many US municipalities - or the absolutely untreated waste discharged by many of the cruise ship destinations, for whose "pristine" waters he has such concern?

[Old As Dirt Mom]

While the topic of cruise ship waste is certainly pertinent today, please bear in mind that this thread originated in 2012.