State Sen. Jesse Kiehl says he’s drafting legislation to address water pollution from cruise ships that use scrubbers to clean their exhaust.
"International Maritime Organization"
Alaskans say cleaner fuels could solve cruise ship scrubber pollution
Scrubbers filter heavy fuel oil exhaust, but environmental advocates say they transfer air pollution into Alaska’s waters. Some Juneau residents want to see that change.
Scrubbers are supposed to clean cruise ship stack emissions. Critics say they pollute the water instead.
For the cruise industry, scrubbers are a way to save money by allowing ships to burn cheaper, dirtier fuels. But the toxic chemicals removed from smokestack exhaust don’t just disappear.
Coast Guard weighs dropping radio-based NAVTEX system to communicate with mariners
But mariners are urging Coast Guard officials to keep the free, low-tech service rather than switch over to subscription-based satellites.
Study examines risk to marine mammals from increased Arctic traffic
“We could aim to develop some mitigation strategies that would help ships avoid key habitats, adjust their timing, take into account certain migration routes and times,” Donna Hauser said. “As well as make some efforts to minimize sound disturbance by changing vessel speeds.”
Fishing boats ‘going dark’ raise suspicion of illegal catches, report says
A new report by the international conservation group Oceana highlights several incidents of fishing vessels switching off their Automatic Identification System beacons in no-take fishing areas.