Following a recent UK investigation that showed cruise lines can emit more pollution that major world cities, the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) has shared its own take on the issue.

Speaking to Travel Weekly, Joel Katz, Managing Director, CLIA Australasia, said the environment is paramount for the industry.

“Environmental sustainability is at the heart of the cruise lines’ economic model.”

Making up less than one per cent of the global maritime community, cruise lines are, according to Katz, leaders in “developing responsible environmental practices and innovative technologies that lead the world’s shipping sector in reducing emissions and waste”.

“At CLIA, we take our environmental commitment very seriously and will continue to focus on improvement in this area as a priority across the sector,” he added.

“CLIA member cruise lines strive to ensure that each new generation of ships is more eco-friendly than the previous one and our members are committed to fitting existing ships with the latest technology as part of continued improvements across the industry.

“Many cruise lines exceed environmental regulatory requirements in a number of areas and continue to work closely with regulators around the world.”

Meanwhile, following the formation of a cruise industry group working with the government to solve Sydney’s cruise infrastructure challenge, Katz said, “As we all know from a cruise perspective Sydney harbour is at capacity for the Summer cruise season.

“Whilst we recognise that the NSW Government has invested $22 million in the Overseas Passenger Travel in recent years this facility is fully booked for the cruise season.

“White Bay as has also been developed in the past decade, however, the size of cruise ships growing it means many of them can’t access ports west of the harbour bridge.

“We now need additional berthing facilities to cater for the growth and sustainability of the industry. In 2016 our industry grew by 21 per cent and has been doing so at a similar rate since 2005. Nowadays over 1.2 million Australians cruise annually

“We congratulate the NSW Government at looking at this important issue and are very encouraged by the formation of the reference group. As an industry we look forward to engaging with the NSW Government to identify an appropriate solution for an industry that contributes billions to the NSW economy.”

Katz explained to Travel Weekly that any cruise line member of CLIA is considered a “leader” in the maritime sector when it comes to controlling air emissions, and on top of that, CLIA members also work on the development and deployment of Advanced Waste Water Treatment Systems.

The recent study, which came out of UK’s Channel 4 investigative program, Dispatched, claimed air emissions from cruise lines can be up there with that of the world’s most polluted cities, and can get into the lungs and body due to the particles being so fine.

But Katz explained to TW that over the past decade, CLIA members have invested in developing new technologies to combat this part of the cruise industry.

Per Katz, these include:

Adoption of Cleaner Fuels and Advanced engine technology

“CLIA members have invested more than a billion dollars in technology to minimise emissions and 87 alternative fuel ships are in the pipeline between 2017 and 2026,” Katz said.

Exhaust gas cleaning systems

“Many of the environmental technologies found onboard were pioneered by the cruise industry itself including exhaust gas cleaning systems (EGCS),” Katz added.

“This technology has been shown to reduce by as much as 98 per cent the level of sulphur oxides in a ship’s exhaust, offering an effective alternative to low-sulphur fuels to achieve emission reduction goals.”

Black and grey water discharges

Katz said, “Wastewater effluents of CLIA cruise line members’ ocean-going vessels meet or exceed the standards prescribed by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) for international shipping.

“CLIA’s mandatory wastewater discharge policy, which prohibits the discharge of untreated sewage from ocean-going cruise ships anywhere in the sea, goes well beyond international wastewater regulations that allow commercial vessels to discharge untreated sewage into the ocean beyond the 12 nautical miles limit.”