Catering to Cruise Ships Costly

A typical cruise ship has a 10 megawatt (MW) to 70MW diesel power station on board and uses in excess of 2,000 megawatt hours (MWh)/year in energy. 

The power demand for an average cruise ship during berthing is in excess of 10 megavolt amps. Such a power demand from shore-to-ship requires multiple parallel feeds at medium voltage to match the ship's connection point voltage. 

Royal Caribbean, which I worked for as a Chief Engineer 2006/2007, is offering "solar" installations on each ship, which are rated at 0.1MW and generate less than 100 MWh/year. In other words, it is a toy and a PR stunt to divert attention from the serious environmental damage a cruise ship inflicts.

There are alternatives to mitigate air emissions:

• Low Sulfur Fuel
• Technology Scrubbers Fuel Treatment
• Engine Technology

Given the demands on infrastructure and the risk of an eroding on-shore experience, fewer ports are in a position to accommodate the cruise lines as supply grows. At the same time, the public sector's scrutiny of industry practices related to the environment, taxation, security, safety, and labour mounts. Despite these challenges, many cruise lines report record levels of profitability. Therefore I do not recommend Victoria bending over too far to accommodate them.

William Perry