Aco Marine has welcomed the findings reported in the Friends of the[ds_preview] Earth (FOE) 2016 Cruise Ship Report Card, the annual survey of cruise shipping’s impact on the environment, which highlights a growing need for the sector to update its sewage treatment technology.
The annual FOE survey documented the environmental footprint of 17 cruise lines and 171 cruise ships, finding that a significant proportion of vessels continue to operate out-dated sewage treatment plant. The reports found that 40% of cruiseships continue to use 35-year-old technology, calling for an urgent upgrade to systems capable of preventing environmental damage from the discharge of poorly treated black, grey and galley wastewater streams.
While Friends of the Earth continues to push the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to update its sewage treatment standards under the Clean Water Act, the environmental campaigner noted that an average cruiseship with 3,000 passengers and crew produces about 21,000 gallons of sewage and about 150,000 gallons of grey water each day.
Of the 17 cruise lines FOE assessed for the 2016 report, seven were »A« graded according to the four environmental criteria sewage treatment, air pollution reduction, water quality compliance and transparency. Eight were given grades ranging from C to F.
