It used to be that each giant cruise ship entering Portland Harbor would make environmentalists queasy.

While merchants see a payload of pampered tourists, others see floating cities with all the baggage – sewage, trash, industrial wastes and smokestacks. And the industry gave them reason to be concerned, with recurring stories about dumping of waste at sea or even in port.

The arrival of the mega ship Explorer of the Seas this week generated a very different feeling among conservationists. A hopeful one.

“They’re making progress,” said Cathy Ramsdell, executive director of the Friends of Casco Bay.

Ramsdell’s group was a major force behind waste-discharge controls on the floating resorts that visit Maine ports. At the time the law was passed, in 2004, the relationship between the cruise industry and local environmentalists was a bit prickly, she said.

On Wednesday, however, Ramsdell and other advocates got a grand tour of the 1,020-foot-long Explorer, the third largest cruise ship in the world. The unlikely highlight was the ship within the ship – its advanced waste treatment systems and recycling facilities.

They also got a look at the newest unique amenity in the cruise world – not including the ship's ice-skating arena. The Explorer has two full service environmental science laboratories on board: One on top of the ship that focuses on atmospheric research and one 19 stories below at the bottom of the ship that monitors ocean conditions.

The labs are a joint venture between the ship’s owner, Royal Caribbean International, and the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School. Royal Caribbean donates the lab space and two cabins for a lab technician and a visiting scientist who monitor the data collection and send it via satellite to databases that are available to scientists, students and teachers on the Internet (right
here).
The scientists even give lectures during voyages in case anyone wants a thoughtful diversion from the casino, theater and 17 lounges and bars.

The ship and Royal Caribbean, which was the subject of a boycott effort in 2003, is now getting praise from conservationists as a model for the industry. But it is just one ship. The sewage and wastewater systems that make the Explorer's discharges less harmful are still the exception within the cruising fleet, Ramsdell said.

And there is still conflict between the cruise industry and environmental groups.
Friends of the Earth sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this month for failing to regulate air pollution from cruise ships and other large vessels. A single cruise ship in port can pollute as much as 350,000 cars, it said.

When you consider that large cruise ships can generate 30,000 gallons of sewage, 250,000 gallons of kitchen, bath and laundry waste water and 10 tons of garbage – each day – there’s a lot for environmentalists to be nervous about.

“The industry does have a bad (reputation) and I’m sorry to say it’s often been well-deserved,” Ramsdell said. “But it is a joy when there’s a ship like this in port.”

Look here for more information about what's on board the ship.

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