Cruise Ship Dumping Waste

If you are on a cruise ship and observe any dumping of plastic or hazardous materials to sea you should report it to the National Response Center at 1-800-424-8802.

Cruise ship dumping waste. Its estimated that the company dumped more than 500000 gallons of treated sewage 11000 gallons of food waste and 12 gallons of oil. Cruise ships are needlessly dumping vast amounts of raw sewage and other harmful wastes into some of the most pristine parts of our oceans every day. A Royal Caribbean cruise ship sails up the Hudson River in New York City Gary HershornGetty Images.

The report further includes the description of the general waste categories produced on a cruise ship as well as the disposal treatments. We went inside the secret crew-only deck of Royal Caribbeans Symphony. More than 130 US gallons 490 L of hazardous.

It is perfectly legal for cruise ships to dump treated sewage in the ocean as long as they are three miles offshore. The ships waste incineration room is manned twenty four hours a day by crew members who differentiate glass based on its color. Yes cruise ships can dump sewage into the ocean.

There are separate teams to deal with each incoming recyclable. However many companies will set their own regulations that their ships have to comply with. Under the current Caribbean regulations ships can begin dumping garbage including metal glass and paper three miles five kilometres from shore as long.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency the cruise ship industry dumps 255000 US gallons of greywater and 30000 US gallons of blackwater into the ocean daily. The sewage dumped into the sea teems with bacteria heavy metals pathogens viruses pharmaceuticals. Cruise lines recycle 80000 tons of paper plastic aluminum and glass each year.

Princess Cruises was fined 40 million in 2016 for illegal dumping and Carnival got hit with a 20 million fine in 2019 for disposing of plastic waste in the ocean. But all those people use resources and produce waste. Cruise ships which are often hundreds of feet long and carry thousands of passengers and crew have been compared to floating cities.