Antarctica tightens restrictions on cruise ships
Antarctica is not a country and therefore has no government to enforce laws. The continent contains the most pristine environment in the world making it the one place that would benefit most from enforceable regulation. In many ways it is similar to the Amazon, rich in resources scattered over thousands of miles of inhospitable land with no means of policing its vast area. Antarctica has only its Treaty to protect it, a continent larger than Australia.
Cruise ship arrivals to Antarctica have more than doubled in the past five years. The increase comes not just from more small expeditionary vessels but large cruise ships which account for the vast increase in annual visitors. Proponents of the big ships argue that they have less environmental impact because they carry more people per sailing thereby reducing the amount of pollution generated compared to the number of sailings required by a small ship to carry a similar number of people. Ships over 500 passengers are also prohibited from making landings.
Members of the Consultative Nations of the Antarctic Treaty are not convinced. They have grave concerns about larger ships in Antarctica. They say traditional cruise ships are not ice hardened, nor do they carry survival suits or gear onboard appropriate for the extreme weather were the ship to experience an emergency, and ships with external propulsion systems (azipods) are also more vulnerable to ice increasing the possibility of an accident. Were such an accident to happen the potential loss of life and environmental damage would be monumental.
This May, the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO) will meet to decide whether or not to prohibit cruise ships that burn heavy fuel from entering into Antarctic waters. That would eliminate all big ships and even some smaller ships as the burning of cleaner gas and diesel mixture would be too expensive. By approaching the issue this way, not only are heavy fuel pollutants eliminated but also the vessels that produce them along with all their inherent issues.
Going back to the opening remark, Antarctica is not a country and has no government to enforce laws. Participating member countries of the Antarctic Treaty uphold its guidelines; but they are only guidelines. Forty-seven countries have signed the treaty, but what about the rest of the non-member countries? Antarctica is like no other place on the planet and requires the cooperation of every country for its conservation and protection; I hope the international cruise industry agrees and will support whatever decision the IAATO makes in May.