Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) believes that NABU’s Cruise Ranking 2015, published last week by Germany’s Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) has not been substantiated by scientific facts.
Namely, according to NABU’s Cruise Ship Ranking 2015, presented on Thursday in Hamburg, even though the cruise ships of leading cruise lines are becoming cleaner, there are still too few ships integrating technology aimed at cutting emissions.
However, CLIA disagreed, saying that “ regrettably, the NABU Cruise Ranking is not an accurate reflection of the industry’s leadership in this critical area.”
“The cruise industry always seeks constructive dialogue with environmental associations like the Naturschutzbund (NABU), and we are open to discussions on environmental protection measures.However, we do call for such measures to be assessed according to fair criteria and scientifically recognized standards.Unfortunately, the NABU Cruise Ranking 2015 and the air quality measurements taken by NABU last year fall short of fair and scientifically objective assessments.
“While cruise ships account for less than one half of one percent of the global shipping fleet, cruise companies are leaders in the global maritime community in making substantial investments in environmental protection technologies and the promotion of responsible policies. These efforts have included new systems to reduce emissions of soot particles, sulfurous oxide, nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide by 90 percent and more. In addition, multi-stage scrubber systems are deployed, which can treat various emissions at the same time,” CLIA said in an emailed statement to World Maritime News.
World Maritime News Staff