Environmental group grades ships over pollution
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – An environmental group released its report card Wednesday on how well cruise ship companies operating in American waters are doing to reduce pollution, and not one received an overall grade of “A.”
Friends of the Earth graded 10 major cruise ship lines, including some of the biggest names in the business, such as Carnival Cruise Lines. Carnival received a “D-minus.”
The report issued the highest grade – a “B”- to Holland America Line. Norwegian Cruise Lines and Princess Cruises also scored relatively well, each getting a “B-minus.”
The lowest grades -“Fs” – went to Disney Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean International. Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises also scored poorly.
Cunard Cruise Line and Regent Seven Seas Cruises received about average grades.
“Typically, cruise ship passengers are attracted to cruise vacations with pictures of pristine waters and promises of unspoiled scenery and abundant wildlife, but these passengers are never told that their vacations could leave a dirty mark on the places they visit,” said Marcie Keever, who spearheaded the “Cruise Ship Environmental Report Card.”
Cruise Lines International Association, a group representing 24 cruise lines, castigated the report, calling it arbitrary, flawed and ignoring “the fact that our cruise lines comply with and in most cases exceed all applicable environmental regulations.”
“It is regrettable that Friends of the Earth authors such misinformation when in fact this industry has made tremendous progress in the past several years in advancing technology and developing programs that go a long way in protecting the environment,” the association said in a statement.
Friends of the Earth graded the cruise lines on three categories: sewage treatment, air pollution reduction and water quality compliance in Alaska waters. It also issued a simple pass/fail grade for each line’s accessiblity to environmental information.
The group said Florida, which has some of the least stringent laws preventing cruise ship pollution, also has the top three cruise ship departure ports: Miami, Port Canaveral and Fort Lauderdale.