The size of cruise ships is phenomenal. One of these Cruise liners can carry over 3000 tourists. But what do they then do with all of that waste they have generated?
Well many of them do dispose of their waste when they get back to port, sensibly and cleanly. There have been a few incidents where the Cruise ship has dumped it’s waste in the ocean. They simply cannot contain all of the waste in the cruise ship and are forced to release it into the open water. This “dumping” is unacceptable if we want to keep the oceans in clean areas like the Caribbean clean. About five years ago they generated around 30,000 gallons of sewage per day. It is difficult for us to say what the output of these ships is exactly, mainly because a new study has not been carried out.
However this isn’t the main problem. However the sewage isn’t the biggest problem, it is all the pollution that they create. The engines that thee liners use are of massive proportion, they burn great amounts of diesel that releases harmful dioxides into the air. When a study was performed over ten years from 1991 to 2001 it showed that the British alone purchased 400 percent more cruises at the end of the 10 year period. As far as we are concerned this number could rise another four hundred percent in the next ten years. St Lucia holidays have become very popular, the St Lucian government has even banned some cruise liners from entering its waters.
One thing is for sure though, either we find a new way to power these Cruise ships or we are going to have to forget about them altogether. If you’re thinking of going on Barbados holidays or having weddings abroad, then think quickly before the Caribbean is just another victim of pollution. How long will it be before we cant visit the Caribbean just because it has been so badly damaged.
