Canada Cracks Down on Cruise Sewage Discarding

C

Skift Take

Canada is lastly taking aggressive action on cruise ship pollution practices. Other nations require to follow their example.

Dawit Habtemariam

Canada on Friday prohibited cruise ships from disposing sewage and dirty water near to coast and stated it would enforce fines of approximately C$ 250,000 ($190,000) for offending vessels.

A range of anti-pollution measures introduced on a voluntary basis in April 2022 will end up being obligatory with instant result, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said in a declaration.

Ecological groups in 2021 denounced what they called lax Canadian regulations, stating cruise liner traveling to and from Alaska alone had discarded 31 billion liters (8.2 billion U.S. gallons) of improperly treated contamination into Canada’s Pacific waters in 2019.

“Cruise ships are an important part of our economy and tourism sector, but they require to operate in a more sustainable manner,” Alghabra stated. Cruise liner produce more than C$ 4 billion a year for the economy, he added.

The new rules will ban the discharge of sewage and so-called greywater– the drainage from sinks, laundry makers, bath tubs and showers– within 3 nautical miles of Canadian coasts.

Furthermore, ships in non-Arctic waters will need to strengthen the treatments of sewage and greywater discarded between 3 and 12 nautical miles from the coast. Different guidelines already control cruise ship pollution in Arctic waters.

“If a vessel is discovered to be non-compliant throughout evaluation, enforcement action will be taken similar to regulations, consisting of the administration of monetary penalties as much as a maximum of C$ 250,000,” Alghabra said.

($1 = 1.3199 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Modifying by Richard Chang)

This article was from Reuters and was legally accredited through the Industry Dive Material Market. Please direct all licensing questions to [email secured]

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