2024-Jun-06
GBA Reports on Cruise Ships in Georgian Bay
Cruise ships have been visiting Georgian Bay for many years, but with a traffic increase of 40 percent since 2022, GBA had some questions about the potential environmental impacts of these trips.
GBA understands the importance of cruise ships to tourism for local economies on the Bay, so our focus was to look into some questions and concerns raised by our members about blackwater, greywater, and garbage disposal.
Through this information-gathering report, we were able to clarify several issues of potential concern:
- There are no designated sewage areas in the Great Lakes
- No cruise ship discharges their blackwater at any of the GB ports
- Four of the six cruise ships were able to confirm on-board treatment systems
- There are several laws and policies to regulate the discharge of treated blackwater
The one area that remains as an area of concern is the storage, treatment and discharge of greywater on these cruise ships. This information was not readily available, and the Canada Shipping Act regulations must be clearer for cruise ships with less than 500 passengers. GBA will continue to follow up with Transport Canada and advocate for more precise regulations regarding the discharge of greywater, emphasizing the urgency and necessity of addressing this issue.
Read the report here.