Green cruising? A cruise ship is more polluting than a plane

After flight shame, there is cruise shame because all those sailing condominiums are terribly polluting. Can we actually go on cruise holidays, for instance on the ‘most environmentally friendly cruise ship in the world’? A look behind the scenes offers little hope.

Cruising has a lousy image these days, because those floating apartment buildings are terribly polluting. However, passengers on the AIDAnova are not worried about that. ‘This is the most eco-friendly ship in the world,’ says one German passenger. ‘It runs on renewable fuel, right? Just look, there it is.’ On the ship’s flanks it is written, in meters tall green letters: ‘GREEN CRUISING’. In 2017, AIDAnova was the first cruise ship to sail on liquefied natural gas (LNG). That, according to the shipping company, is the great promise for a green future.

9 megawatts per hour

‘LNG is currently the cleanest technology available to us,’ says Abdelhak El Hajoui, the AIDAnova’s LNG engineer. ‘Carbon dioxide emissions are virtually eliminated and those of sulphur and nitrogen oxides are greatly reduced.’ […] ‘Right now, while in port, we are consuming 9 megawatts per hour. As much as a small town.’
German shipping company AIDA is a forerunner in making cruising more sustainable – and that is not limited to fuel. […] In the recycling centre, boxes are shredded, PET bottles compressed and food scraps pulverised. In the engine room are plants that turn seawater into drinking water and purify sewage so that it can be discharged. ‘This wastewater is purer than seawater after treatment’, actually we are making the sea a bit cleaner with this.’

Explosive growth

Cruising is the fastest-growing form of tourism. Fourteen new cruise ships will be christened this year, bringing the total number to 337. […] By 2024, 36 million people are expected to step on board – double the number in 2009. Ships are getting bigger and bigger, making cruise holidays cheaper and cheaper. A week on the AIDAnova costs from 450 euros per person, and with discounters like MSC and Costa it can even be as little as 300 euros.
[…] The ecological impact is therefore high. ‘A seagoing cruise ship easily burns a million litres of fuel a week,’ says Eke Eijgelaar, researcher in sustainable tourism at Breda University of Applied Sciences. And most still simply sail on highly polluting fuel oil. Flying is harmful, it is now common knowledge, but cruising is even worse. Eijgelaar: ‘An average flying holiday produces CO2 emissions per passenger of 1,100 kilograms, compared to 2,200 kilograms for an average cruise holiday. Cruising is twice as polluting as flying.’

Greenwashing

[…] The AIDAnova is cleaner than older cruise ships still running on mineral fuel oil, as LNG produces far fewer emissions. A huge improvement, if the shipping company is to be believed. ‘Nonsense,’ says Constance Dijkstra, shipping campaigner for Transport & Environment, an umbrella organisation of 51 European environmental organisations. ‘LNG is simply a fossil fuel. It may produce fewer CO2 emissions, but other problems take its place. Like much more emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas that is actually more harmful than CO2. On balance, LNG is not better, but just as bad or even worse for the climate. LNG is not green, it is greenwashing’.
Based on the same conviction, the foundation ‘Fossielvrij Nederland’ (Fossil free Netherlands) filed a complaint with the Advertising Code Committee last week about another cruise line: MSC. According to the climate organisation, the Swiss company wrongly presents its cruises with ships powered by LNG as a sustainable way to travel.

Cocktails without straws

[…] Shipping companies, meanwhile, like to show their greenest side. Look how clean our ships are, so feel free to keep cruising, the message goes. The reality is more unruly. Certainly, steps are being taken in the right direction. […] In the bars, cocktails are served without a straw as standard. Those who ask for one are given one made of paper. However, the effect of these measures is more than offset by the explosive growth of cruise shipping, with ever larger ships and ever more passengers. […] The shipping company’s goal is for ships to be completely emission-free by 2050. But before it gets better, it gets worse.

Read the fuller article in the Volkskrant (subscribers only).

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