Cruise Ship Blues: The Underside of the Cruise Ship Industry (30 page)

People living in port cities can take an interest in the impact of the cruise industry on their own harbor. Learn about the environmental impact of cruise ships, and advocate for local efforts to monitor cruise ships and prevent pollution. It isn’t just what a ship does in the harbor — for example, in 2001 Carnival Cruise Line admitted in its first quarterly report to the California Cruise Ship Environmental Task Force that it had regularly discharged 40,000 gallons of graywater each time it was docked at the San Pedro Cruise terminal in Los Angeles between January and May of that year. Think also about what happens at sea — about the stream of effluent that can be left in a ship’s wake as it passes beyond the 3-mile and 12-mile point from your coastline.

Participate

There are already a number of organizations concerned with issues related to the cruise industry. You might find that your limited available time means that your best efforts are in supporting an existing group or organization. There is no need to create a group when there are already those that can use your support — economic, moral, and physical.

Environmental Organizations

Two environmental groups have projects focused specifically on the cruise industry.

1.
The Bluewater Network Cruise Ship Campaign

311 California Street, Suite 510, San Francisco, CA 94104 ph: (415) 544-0790 fax: (415) 544-0796
www.bluewaternetwork.org

The Bluewater Network’s Cruise Ship Campaign has had some notable success. On March 17, 2000, it filed a petition with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to address a number of issues related to pollution by cruise ships; 58 organizations signed on to the petition. The EPA responded by launching a major initiative to assess the volumes, characteristics, and environmental impacts of cruise ship wastes, the effectiveness of existing regulatory and nonregulatory programs for managing these wastes, and options for their better environmental management. The outcome of the process will be recommendations for how to deal with pollution from cruise ships. In the meantime, the Bluewater Network is exploring with the EPA an eco-labeling program for cruise ships that would indicate those ships meeting an agreed-upon minimum standard for environmental protection.

In 2001 the Bluewater Network settled a court case forcing the EPA to regulate air pollution from big ships, including cruise ships. Since most cruise ships are foreign-flagged and the new rules will probably exempt foreign ships, the Bluewater Network expects to again have to sue the EPA, or alternatively to introduce legislation in Congress to capture foreign ships.

The California Cruise Ship Environmental Task Force was formed in January 2001 under legislation sponsored by the Bluewater Network. The task force monitors the cruise industry’s impact on California’s environment and makes determinations on the adequacy of existing regulations for cruise ship waste management.

The Bluewater Network is actively involved in regulatory advocacy, in lobbying Congress and state legislatures in California and Alaska, in public education, and in litigation.

2.
Oceans Blue Foundation Cruise Ship Stewardship Initiative

405 - 134 Abbott Street, Vancouver, BC, V6B 2K4 Canada ph: (604) 684-2583 fax: (604) 684-6942
www.oceansblue.org

Founded in Vancouver, Canada, in 1996, the Oceans Blue Foundation is a nonprofit environmental organization working to conserve coastal environments through responsible and sustainable tourism. It operates in the USA and Canada. The Oceans Blue Foundation was the first organization in North America to focus on developing and promoting best practices and standards for all sectors of the tourism industry.

The Cruise Ship Stewardship Initiative, the foundation’s latest project, directly supports environmental protection efforts in Alaska and Canada, and seeks similar regulation and control of cruise ship emissions in Canada and beyond. The organization is presently working with a number of partners on developing a scheme for eco-certification (similar to the Bluewater Network’s eco-labeling program) of cruise ships, and is exploring other strategies for preserving the coastal environment.

There are other useful organizations as well. For example, West Coast Environmental Law (
www.wcel.org
), a public interest environmental law group, has produced a comprehensive review and analysis of local, federal, and international regulations relating to ship emissions. It is actively involved in efforts to form policies that protect the environment. The Earth Island Institute (
www.earthisland.org
), through its Campaign to Protect America’s Waters, has been directly involved in Alaska’s efforts to regulate the cruise industry, as well as in efforts beyond Alaska. Like many other environmental groups, the Earth Island Institute’s concerns include issues related to the cruise industry.

Labor Issues

Becoming involved in labor issues is less straightforward. The main organization involved with worker issues is the Seafarers’ Section of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF

—
www.itf.org.uk
). Based in London, the Seafarers’ Section focuses on the rights of workers on all ships and is actively engaged in a campaign to end the use of flags of convenience. Its cruise ship campaign is focused on educating workers of their rights and on having and enforcing collective agreements on cruise ships. The Seafarers Trust has, several times in the past couple of years, assisted cruise ships workers who were left stranded with back-pay owed and no means to return home.

For people living in port cities, there is some opportunity for direct activity. Most ports have a seafarer’s mission, often sponsored by religious organizations and supported by the ITF. These missions provide a way for you to learn about the cruise industry and the plight of its workers, as well as an opportunity to volunteer your time and resources. Going to and spending time at the mission is one of the few opportunities many of us will have to deal directly with the cruise industry in the form of a real person in a real situation.

Organize

For those with the time, there is plenty opportunity to organize collective action. I have already mentioned opportunities for advocating labor unions to take an interest in their brethren on cruise ships. It may be easier than it appears to gain the support of union locals for a petition addressing the plight of workers on cruise ships. And there are other opportunities to help, whether you live in a landlocked area or a port area.

You might consider informational pickets or leafleting. Either one can be a way to educate people about the cruise industry. They can advocate a boycott of cruise ships or simply make people aware of necessary precautions, should they be thinking about a cruise. There are other methods as well for collectively distributing information.

Consider organizing a collective campaign to alert parents and women to the safety risks on a cruise ship. This can focus on a neighborhood, a town or city, or a larger area. The scale of the effort is less important than getting information to those who need it.

There are many more possibilities for organizing and other action. Groups and individuals subjecting the cruise industry to critical analysis and attention are rather new, so the landscape is still relatively clear of well-entrenched efforts and organizations. This may be intimidating to some people in that there is no place to immediately plug into, but to others the opportunities to build grassroots actions and movements, and to see them have an impact, can be exciting.

There is also opportunity for creativity. In January 2002 the town of Yakutat, Alaska, sent a bill for $382,833 to cruise lines whose ships traverse Disenchantment Bay.

The tax is unprecedented because ships do not dock in Yakatut. But the vessels enter scenic Disenchantment Bay in borough waters to show passengers Hubbard Glacier.... Yukatut residents who hunt seals worry that ships are hurting seal populations in the bay.. Civic leaders also say ill passengers traveling through borough waters have taken a toll on city medical services.
⁴

The cruise industry expressed its desire to negotiate an alternative to the tax, fearing that the levy would incite similar taxes by other cities along cruise routes.

Major impacts on the cruise industry may be slow to realize, but as public awareness of the problems increase and as reservations for cruises fall off, the industry is likely to fall in line. Cruise lines are in business to make money; a decrease in their resource base — that is, paying passengers — will result in the companies reacting in ways to expand it. My hope is that any expansion will be built upon greater responsibility for the safety and security of passengers, on environmental responsibility and integrity, and on proper and humane treatment of workers.

I STILL WANT TO TAKE A CRUISE

You may still want to take a cruise and wonder whether one cruise line is better than the others. That assessment is difficult to make. Without a system of certification regarding labor and environmental practices, there is no formal mechanism — as there is, to some extent, with a ship’s sanitation — for learning what a cruise line is doing and how well they are doing it. As we have seen often, cruise lines project an image such as environmental responsibility, and then after the fact, reports contradicting that image emerge.

In the absence of any formal certification schemes or reliable assessments, my website at
www.cruisejunkie.com
may provide some useful information and direction. The noncommercial site is regularly updated with links to reports, investigations, and new developments regarding labor, ship safety and security, and the environment. The site will not tell you which cruise line to choose, but it can provide insight into different companies and their practices. It also reports on development of any certification or similar schemes regarding environmental and labor practices, and in terms of ship safety and security.

I also main a comprehensive website of links to cruise lines, ports, commercial and personal pages, and concessionaires and suppliers. That site (
www.ucs.mun.ca/~rklein/cruise.html
), also entirely noncommercial, will direct you to most of the major (and many obscure but useful) cruise resources on the Internet. It is a useful place to begin if you are just starting your exploration of the cruise industry and cruising on the Internet.

APPENDIX A: MISHAPS AT SEA

January 2000 — December 2001

Carnival Cruise Line
Date Ship

Jan 00
Celebration

Feb 00
Destiny
May 00
Destiny

July 00
Paradise

Sep 00
Victory
Oct 00
Elation
Aug 01
Inspiration

Details of Mishap

Fire in generator. Ship adrift for 6 hours; no toilets or air conditioning

Propulsion problems. Ship adrift for 27 hours

Mechanical difficulties. 1 cruise canceled; the next delayed 1 day and sails at slower speeds

Malfunction of propulsion system as leaving port. Cruise canceled; next 3 cruises also canceled

Hits New York City pier. Damage to pier; ship proceeds

Preventative maintenance of propulsion system. 2 cruises canceled

Strikes barge in Mississippi River — undamaged

Celebrity Cruises
Date Ship

July 00
Millennium

Nov 00
Millennium
Feb 01
Millennium Galaxy

Jun 01 Jun 01

Infinity

Details of Mishap

Engine and plumbing problems. Stop at Stockholm skipped; goes to Germany for repairs

Propulsion problems. 4 cruises canceled

Drydocked to repair propulsion problems

Damaged propeller leaving Amsterdam. Cruise canceled

Drydocked to repair propulsion problems

Holland America Line
Date Ship