Early morning view down Market Street on January 4, 2010 Cruise Ships in Charleston: A Delicate Balance

cruise ship in Manhattan

In November 2006, the Celebrity Mercury was fined $100,000 for dumping 500,000 gallons of untreated wastewater into Puget Sound over nine days. Celebrity denied the dumping, but shipboard documents contradicted the company's claim.

In 2002, Carnival agreed to pay an $18 million fine for repeatedly discharging oily waste from their bilges by improperly using pollution prevention equipment. They falsified records to conceal this practice.

Traffic and Congestion Establish a park and ride system for embarking and disembarking passengers utilizing remote parking lots served by shuttle buses (these shuttles will not perform tours through the historic district). Prohibit cruise passenger parking in the vicinity of the terminal. Preserve and increase shuttle bus service to the passenger terminal during cruise ship port-of-calls. SPA and the City of Charleston should fund a comprehensive transportation impact analysis and mitigation strategy considering the proposed redevelopment of Calhoun Street, Ansonborough Field, the cruise ship terminal and the city market. Realign Washington and Concord Streets to facilitate pedestrian and vehicular movement. Enforce anti-idling ordinance for buses operating around the terminal (and generally throughout the city). Review, revise and enforce carriage tour standards.

Number and Size of Ships, Number of Passengers Limit the number of ships that can dock at terminal to one cruise ship docked in Charleston at a time, with exceptions for emergencies. Enforce the limit through city ordinance. Place an easement on the property prohibiting construction of more than one cruise ship berth. Limit the number of passengers per ship by city statute and contract. Establish ship height limits consistent with the city’s height ordinance.

Emissions and Discharges Number and Size of Ships, Number of Passengers Require that ships not discharge sewage, solid waste, gray or bilge water within 12 miles of the port. Require any spill or discharge to be reported to the City, Coast Guard and Charleston Waterkeeper. Require that ships burn low sulfur diesel or cleaner fuel. Provide plug-in power at berth and require ships to use electric power by Require ships to keep and provide upon request to the City, Coast Guard, or Charleston Waterkeeper accurate and up-to-date records of sewage, gray water, solid waste, and bilge water discharges. Provide and require use of garbage and waste recycling and disposal services at the berth. Establish minimum rating for cruise lines of a B ("satisfactory") from the Friends of the Earth report card.

Funding, Reporting and Enforcement Funding for recycling and waste management, shuttle buses, enforcement and mitigation and management of other cruise ship impacts should be covered entirely by fees paid to the City of Charleston and the SC State Ports Authority by cruise companies. Data on passenger arrivals, departures, SPA and City of Charleston revenues and costs and ship contagious disease records should be assembled annually in a report on cruise operations and made available to the public.

Customs House and Celebrity Mercury