Friends of the Earth released the 2012 edition of its Cruise Ship Report Card, documenting the environmental footprint of the cruise industry and its many ships -- 15 cruise lines and the 148 ships operated by the lines were graded. The report card, last released in 2010, reports a continued lack of effort on behalf of many cruise lines to pursue ways to reduce their air and water pollution impact on the places passengers take cruises to see and the communities that host cruise ships.
Disney Cruise Line’s grade of “A-” puts it in the “most improved” category again -- this time leading the competition at the top of the report card. Disney’s efforts to reduce its air emissions brought it up from a “C-” in 2010. Disney joins five other lines that managed to improve their environmental impact grades in the past two years.
However, the report card reveals that many of the lines represent a stagnating trend of environmental responsibility within the industry. This year, three lines were stamped with an “F” grade, two of which were new to the list. More than half of the ships graded in 2010 have not improved in any significant way.
Though six cruise lines improved their rankings from 2010 and no lines lost ground, air pollution reduction remains an enormous oversight in the cruise industry. Ten of the 15 lines reviewed received an “F” in that category. Of those six, only Disney and Princess Cruises had any significant improvement.
All cruise lines’ and ships’ grades, along with information about the grading methodology and what can be done to make cruise lines better environmental stewards, can be found at www.foe.org/cruise-report-card.