New fuel standards for cruise ships

These restrictions, initiated by the United States and agreed to by dozens of other nations as part of an international treaty, represent one of Barack Obama’s most ambitious anti-pollution programs, which will affect much of the North American coast and Hawaii.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, say the impacts are expected to prevent thousands of premature deaths and relieve respiratory issues for nearly 5 million people a year in the U.S. and Canada.

Gina McCarthy, who heads the EPA’s air and radiation office, said: “These important standards will lower emissions from ships and help safeguard our port communities and cities hundreds of miles inland.”

For years, large ships have burned a heavy fuel with 2,000 times or more the amount of sulphur as the diesel fuel used by trucks, trains, construction equipment and small marine vessels. The new rule requires large ships to cut the sulphur content of their fuel, which now averages 2.7 percent, down to 1 percent next month and in 2015 it must drop to 0.1 percent. Officials in Alaska have sued to block enforcement of these rules in their waters, claiming they will have a disproportionate effect on the state.

About 90 percent of the commodities entering Alaska are delivered via a single port, the Port of Anchorage, and many south-east Alaskan communities rely heavily on revenues from the cruise trade to survive.

The president of the Alaska State Chamber of Commerce, Rachael Petro, said she knows of no documented pollution issues that would necessitate the new rules taking effect here. She said: “It is completely unjustified and that's disconcerting.”

According to the EPA, once fully implemented the program will add $18 to the cost of shipping a 20-foot container and about $7 per day to the cost of a passenger’s cruise ticket. However, cruise industry analysts say it could add as much as $19.46 a day per passenger. Predictions suggest that by 2020, the overall cost of implementing the rules will be $3.2 billion while health-related benefits could be as high as $110 billion in the U.S. alone.