French TV
journalists have secretly measured the air quality on a cruise ship. The results
are devastating: The air is significantly worse polluted than it would be in
thick urban traffic.
Deutsche Welle, 26 January 2017
Cruises are
increasingly popular among today's tourists. They offer relaxation with 24-hour
service for stressed out office workers.
Forget
about searching for the perfect, pristine beach - which most people will never
find, anyhow. Instead, just go to the pool on the upper deck, enjoy some tasty
drinks and take in breathtaking views of the ocean from high above. For people
who need less contemplation, cruises offer theater and show performances,
generous meals, bars and shopping opportunities.
That
doesn't mean you're in for a boring vacation: Adventure comes as part of the
risk free deal. Even frail seniors can now feel like mystic characters such as
Long John Silver from Treasure Island or real explorers like Roald Amundsen -
be it by cruising the romantic Carribean, visiting savage South Sea islands or
admiring polar bears on impenetrable arctic shores. Finally you can do
something for your health by going to the ship's gym and getting a good work
out.
 |
| Tourists want to enjoy themselves - and the fresh sea breeze. |
But you
better think twice about taking a deep breath. The German Environmental
Association "Naturschutzbund Deutschland"(NABU) now warns that it is
more likely you inhale polluted air than a fresh breeze. NABU says that it
cannot recommend any of the large European cruise ships.
"Pamphlets
lead you to believe that there are blue skies and white ships - a dream-like
setting," Daniel Rieger, who is in charge of transportation policies at NABU,
said. "The truth is that clouds of black soot are emitted from the
funnels."
Measuring
results are worse than expected
Recent
measurements of actual air quality onboard a cruise ship seem to support NABU's
view. French TV journalists from broadcaster France 3 conducted covert
measurements while on a cruise. They boarded a ship in Marseille for a cruise
of the Mediterranean.
Results
show that "the shipping companies are exposing their travelers to high
concentrations of harmful substances," NABU managing director Leif Miller
concluded.
Even
environmentalists were surprised by the high concentrations that the
journalists detected. Right after leaving Marseille, air pollution was roughly
200 times that of a heavily trafficked urban street.
Besides
fine dust and soot, the combustion of marine diesel fuel and heavy oil also set
free other harmful substances such as nitrogen oxides and heavy metals.
Former
captain and ship broker Helge Grammerstorf, who is the German national director
of the Cruise Lines International Association CLIA, defends his industry. He
told the daily "Hamburger Abendblatt:" "We don't know these
measurements. The claim is completely unsubstantiated."
Grammerstorf
argues that the measurements were taken only selectively and that one would
need to run a more systematic test to collect data over a longer time period.
Hardly
noticeable for passengers
"The
passengers can only smell or see the particles before they get mixed up with
the ambient air," NABU spokesman Rieger said after the France 3 test
results were published.
He argued
that it wouldn't take the shipping companies much to change the pollution and
to increase comfort. "Even switching from marine diesel fuel or heavy oil
to regular road diesel fuel would make a big difference," he said.
In
addition, it wouldn't be too hard to install effective exhaust cleaning
systems, according to NABU. Such systems have long existed with established
standards for trucks and trains.
"The
question is whether the industry deliberately looks the other way,"
Dietmar Oellinger - NABU's transport expert - said.
He
suggested that the tests taken by the French journalists were merely an example
and could possibly be representative for the entire cruise ship industry.
 |
| "The reality is black soot from the chimneys," NABU environmentalists say. |
"We
should ask how much more proof the industry needs before they finally take
action," Oellinger said.
Some cruise
lines have pledged to install particle filters, but so far, there are none in
use.
Covert
measuring only in the harbor
Previously,
NABU has only had the opportunity to measure harmful ultra fine dust particles
in the air around cruise ships in harbors. They have done so in Hamburg, Venice
and the north-eastern German city of Rostock-Warnemünde. The ship owners did
not allow the environment agency to take measurements on board, Daniel Rieger
said.
The results
were devastating nonetheless: In all cases the ships were burning off heavy
oil. Four of five ships were not equipped with any exhaust gas cleaning or they
were only fulfilling the lowest legal standard for northern Europe - a system
that only reduces sulfur oxide emissions.
Technical
solutions to reduce particle and nitrogen oxide emissions have long been on the
market, though. Therefore, NABU argues, not implementing them is largely due to
greed. It would cost money to install the system and furthermore require the
companies to use more expensive types of fuel.
Almost as
dangerous as asbestos
The German
Lung Foundation already recommended several years ago that people with chronic
respiratory diseases only stay on certain parts of the deck when on a cruise
ship and thus avoide breathing in the ship's exhaust.
The World
Health Organization (WHO) has concluded that diesel exhaust is just as
carcinogenic as asbestos. The ultrafine particles, which are smaller than 0.1
micrometer can get into the smallest pulmonary alveoli and from there into the
blood stream and other organs.
NABU
manager Leif Miller argues it's cynical that the cruise ship companies
"pay huge sums to improve entertainment and gastronomical services on
board, but save as much as they can when it comes to environmental
protection."
Meanwhile,
in Germany the cruise ship industry is getting ready for the next season: In
Warnemünde, Hamburg and Kiel alone, more than two million passengers are
expected to board the giants of the seas in 2017.
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