Environment – High cost of cruising

The cruise ship industry looks like luxury and glamour – exotic destinations, as much food as you can eat, entertainment, socialisation and romance on the high seas. But, like everything, there’s a high price to pay and not just in the pocket. There were around 260,000 cruise ship passengers in New Zealand last year, up 17 per cent from the year before. Ships are getting bigger, more of them are bringing more people to more ports, and the travel season is getting longer.

The attraction of beautiful locations like Akaroa and Milford Sound must be enticing for cruise ship passengers. And, in my mind, places in the Pacific Islands would be best encountered from sea. But the size, scale and frequency of cruise ships is leading to concerns of over-tourism around the world. The cruise industry is very powerful and demands for infrastructure are putting pressure on environments like the Waitemata Harbour, where expected cruise berth extensions are leading to concerns of infilling the harbour and, in Lyttelton, extensions create horrendous noise and potential harm to endangered Hector’s dolphins. In the lovely small harbour of Akaroa, it’s expected 90 cruise ships will visit this season – more than one a day, with few summer days free from their visual impact, noise and pressure.

Some of these cruise ships, such as The Ovation of the Seas, are gigantic. The Ovation is three football fields long, 50 metres high, and has displacement of 167,800 tonnes. Its physical presence alone creates a huge impact on small wilderness locations. Also, in Akaroa, there are concerns about pollution, noise from night time activities like discos, seabed disturbance and damage to foreshore structures from ship propellers and thrusting. On land, it causes traffic congestion and puts pressure on infrastructure such as public toilets. With up to 5000 guests on some of these ships, the populations of small ports are saturated with visitors.

Emissions from cruise ships sitting in port with their engines going creates air pollution impacts equivalent to about 84,000 cars, with nitrous oxide and sulphur dioxide concentrations higher than any local urban effect. While there are calls for the engines to turn off in port, and for the ships to connect to the electricity network, we just don’t have the required electricity spare.

Big cruise ships have scrubbers and pollution control equipment, but New Zealand isn’t a signatory to the Marine Pollution Convention (MARPOL), so they’re not obliged to use them. Plus, there is evidence from overseas that in some cases the cruise ships turn the technology off anyway. So, even though the cruise industry is a growth sector, below the gloss is dross and the romance of cruise ship travel is not what it seems.

Christine Rose
christine.rose25@gmail.com