Thousands Of Cruise Ships Spend Billions On 'Cheat Devices' While Polluting Sea

Many shipping companies including cruise ships are spending billions of dollars on “cheat devices” to dodge environmental regulations seeking to stop dumping of pollutants into the sea.

According to an exclusive report by The Independent on cruise ship pollution, ships are trying to divert pollution by collecting pollutants in the air and then dumping them into the sea.

Ships are spending millions of dollars to install “open-loop scrubbers” that remove and extract Sulphur from the exhaust fumes and later they are dumped directly into the sea.

According to cruise news, more than $12 billion has been spent on devices called open-loop scrubbers, which extract Sulphur from the exhaust fumes of ships and push the pollutants in the sea. The Sulphur content will be high on ships that use heavy fuel oil.

Ships using open-loop scrubbers release warm, acidic, contaminated wash water that is high on carcinogens including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heavy metals into the sea.

The new standards demanded by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) enforceable from January 1 mandates reduced Sulphur content in exhaust fumes of ships.

According to ship classification company DNV GL, a total of 3,756 ships have installed scrubbers. Barring 23 vessels that have closed-loop scrubbers all others are running open-loop scrubbers implying the dumping of Sulphur into the ocean.

In closed-loop scrubbers, there will be no discharge of Sulphur into the sea. The extracted Sulphur will be stored in tanks for discharging at safe disposal areas in ports.

The report also said the fastest adopters of open-loop are larger vessels running on huge engines. They include bulk carriers, container ships, and oil tankers, which are considered the worst polluters.

Carnival asked to comply with pollution norms

Meanwhile, a federal judge asked Carnival Cruise Line to expedite its work on fixing the ocean pollution problems created by the cruise liner.

The U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz demanded concrete action and fewer promises from Carnival.

Carnival is on a five-year probation sentence from a criminal pollution conviction that started in 2016. The cruise company was slapped a $20 million penalty, on top of a $40 million fine in the original case.

Carnival carrying millions of travelers under various cruise deals has more than 100 cruise ships and so many brands.

Chairman Micky Arison and CEO Arnold Donald insisted the company is doing a lot but needs more time to implement changes.

“We strive to be perfect,” Arison told the judge. “We won’t ever be perfect, but we are going to work toward that.”

Responding to the submission, the judge said it is not the time to make feeble promises but more action is required.

Carnival has admitted that it violated probation as its ships continued to cause environmental harm. The environmental problems attributed to Carnival cruise ranged from plastic discharge into the water; release of “gray water” in prohibited areas such as Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park and a corporate culture that pays scant regard to environmental laws.