Emissions and waste management of cruise ships: old gaps and new concerns

Cruise ships are the most polluting transport mode in relation to the number of passengers. It is estimated that a medium-sized cruise ship (with 2,200 passengers and 800 crew members), for a weeklong trip, create up to 210,000 litres of human sewage, four million litres of gray water (water from sinks, bathrooms, showers, laundry and kitchen), eight tonnes of garbage, more than 500 kilograms of hazardous waste and 100,000 litres of oily bilge water. Besides, daily emissions of a cruise ship are compared to those of about 12,000 cars. The current legislation appears to be ineffective and, considering the difficulty to perform periodic inspections, it is also too often not respected. Still very common, unfortunately, are the cases of illegal dumping, especially in international waters, such as “accidental” spills of fuel, heavy oil or similar substances. The aim of this article is to analyse the main environmental impacts of these particular ships, revealing the gaps of existing international regulations, and give suggestions to provide possible solutions for an environmental normative reform of the cruise industry.