Cruise ships showed contempt for customers by breaking clean air pledge, report says

German environment group says industry has not tried to cut pollution over the past year and reneged on a promise to install soot filters

The world’s cruise ships have done virtually nothing to reduce their pollution over the past year, with some still emitting as much particulate matter as 1m cars a day, a report says.

The annual survey of 63 ships, conducted by the German environment group Nabu, refused to recommend a single one for adequately reducing its environmental impact in 2017.

It accused the industry of having “contempt” for the health of its customers, saying companies had reneged on promises to clean up their fleets.

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“Last year the sector claimed 23 ships would be operating with soot filters,” said Nabu’s Dietmar Oeliger. “The truth is not a single filter is working at present.”

The report’s authors say a mid-size cruise ship’s diesel engine can use 150 tonnes of fuel each day, which would emit as much particulate as one million cars. In December, the Australian government passed a regulation forcing cruise ships in Sydney harbour to use low-sulphur fuel, after residents complained emissions were negatively affecting their health.

The New South Wales Environmental Protection Agency had earlier warned that docked cruise ships posed a health risk to those who lived near them.

“Many cruise ships emit high levels of fine particles and sulfur dioxide, both of which can be harmful to human health,” it said.

Nabu is calling on all cruise ships worldwide to ban their use of heavy fuel and to install particulate filters on all ships.

However, it said the German companies Hapag-Lloyd and TUI were the only ones to have taken any steps over the past year.

“Hapag-Lloyd and TUI share the top position due to the installation of nitrogen oxide catalysts, a small but important step towards cleaner ships,” the report said.

Industry leaders Costa, MSC and Royal Carribbean were all handed fail grades, along with the British-American company Cunard, which owns the Queen Mary 2.

The world’s largest cruise ship, Royal Carribbean’s Harmony of the Seas, which can carry 6,3000 passengers, came equal last.

“No company comes recommended in Nabu’s 2017 cruise ship rankings, which show just how little progress companies have made towards cutting pollution,” the group said in a statement.

“The cruise industry’s contempt for the health of its customers and port citizens is underlined by the fact that not one company responded to a simple Q&A supplied by Nabu.”

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In March last year a London residents’ group said the pollution from cruise liners could prevent the city meeting its EU legal limits on noxious emissions.

The Brussels-based Transport and Environment group estimates pollution from international shipping caused “approximately 50,000 premature deaths per year in Europe”.

“Through chemical reactions in the air, SO2 and NOx is converted into fine particles, sulphate and nitrate aerosols,” it said. “Tiny airborne particles are linked to premature deaths. The particles get into the lungs and are small enough to pass through tissues and enter the blood.”