About Sea

Ocean pollution – Cruise Ships

Cruise ships are a major and growing source of ocean pollution. Cruise ships produce and dump millions of gallons of inadequately treated sewage and wastewater into the sea daily. 

Take a look at what cruise ships generate everyday:

1) Blackwater (Human waste)
Blackwater is sewage, wastewater from toilets and medical facilities, which can contain harmful bacteria, pathogens, viruses, intestinal parasites, and harmful nutrients. Discharges of untreated or inadequately treated sewage can cause bacterial and viral contamination of fisheries and shellfish beds, producing risks to public health. 

2) Graywater
Graywater is wastewater generated by laundries, showers, sinks and dishwashers. It contains detergents, cleaners, oil and grease, metals, pesticides, and medical, dental and other forms of toxic waste. Waste that should be segregated and disposed at land-based facilities is often pumped into graywater. 

3) Garbage and solid waste
This trash of ocean pollution includes glass, plastics, bottles, aluminium, steel, cans, paper, cardboard and food wastes. Approximately 75 to 80 percent is incinerated at sea and then the ash is dumped into the ocean. It can be either non-hazardous or hazardous in nature.

4) Hazardous waste (toxic waste)
Cruise ships produce hazardous wastes (toxic) from a number of on-board activities and processes, including silver, mercury, lead and cadmium through dry cleaning, photo processing photographic processing, print shops, painting activities, equipment cleaning and other sources.

5) Oily bilge water
Residual oil from routine engine maintenance mixes with bilge water and collects at the bottom of the ship. Ocean pollution like oil, gasoline, and by-products from the biological breakdown of petroleum products can harm fish and wildlife and pose threats to human health if ingested.

6) Ballast water, 1,000 metric tons per release.
Ballast water is often taken on in one region and discharged in another.Cruise ships take in millions gallons of ballast water to stabilize and trim the vessel, discharge back into the ocean as needed to maintain and to ensure safe operating conditions. 

> Ballast water is often contains non-native, nuisance, exotic species that can cause extensive ecological and economic damage to aquatic ecosystems. 

> Non-native species are the number two cause of biodiversity loss worldwide.

7) Air pollution
Air pollution generated by cruise ship diesel engines that burn high sulfur content fuel, producing sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and particulate, in addition to carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and hydrocarbons.

> Diesel exhaust has been classified by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a likely human carcinogen, i.e. a substance, radionuclide or radiation that is an agent directly involved in the promotion of cancer or in the increase of its propagation.

The diverse collection of wastes described above, including toxic waste,human waste and chemical pollution contaminate the sea water, damage corals, deplete the oxygen supply in the ocean, and harm both marine and human life.

Source Article: Visit http://www.smart-guide-to-world-cruise-ship.com/ocean-pollution.html for your good research purpose to learn more detail about ocean pollution done by cruise ship!