Other jurisdictions experience problems as ship 'numbers; soar

The sea ice has retreated around south Baffin, marking the start to this summer's cruise season.

Although large cruise ships still haven't discovered Nunavut, traffic in territorial waters will be busier than ever in 2007.

That's because some tour companies have increased the number of ships they are bringing to Nunavut, said the ­Government of Nunavut's tourism advisor, Mark Young Sr.

Ten cruise ships plan to visit Pangnirtung this summer, four more than last summer. This community remains one of the most popular cruise destinations in Nunavut, but Iqaluit, Pond Inlet, Resolute and Cambridge Bay are popular too.

A list of cruise ships planning to call on Nunavut in 2008 shows a total 26 of groups travelling on eight different cruise ­vessels, some of which will tour Nunavut more than once.

The first cruise ship to visit Nunavut was Cruise North's 122-passenger Lyubov Orlova, which landed at Kimmirut July 5.

The Akademik Joffe, carrying 110 passengers travelling with Quark Expeditions, is to arrive in Iqaluit on July 22 – the city's first cruise ship arrival of the year.

The Lyubov Orlova will be the last ship to call in Iqaluit, on Sept. 24.

The largest cruise ship scheduled to come to Nunavut – the Hanseatic – can carry up to 164 passengers.

But the relatively small cruise ships coming to Nunavut this summer shows that larger cruisers, capable of carrying thousands of passengers, are not yet coming to Nunavut.

Meanwhile, the rest of the circumpolar world is grappling with an ever-increasing number of large cruise ship arrivals.

Two cruise ships disgorged nearly 3,000 passengers in Nuuk, Greenland on July 7, breaking all records for the number of visitors on any single day.

The Pacific Clipper, with 1,000 Japanese tourists on board, docked first. About an hour later, the Aurora anchored, bringing 2,000 passengers to shore on small boats.

Flemming Nicolaisen of Nuuk Tourism said Nuuk, which has a population of about 15,000, prepared itself in advance for the unprecedented number of visitors, organizing choir and drum dancer performances in the Katuaq cultural centre, along with cultural workshops and city tours.

Greenland is still actively recruiting more cruise ship business, and, by this September, more than 30 cruise ships will have called at various ports. Most carry between 300 and 800 passengers, although on Aug. 23, the Rotterdam will bring 1,300 passengers to Greenland.

In Norway, scientists and researchers wants limits on cruise ship traffic, which has reached huge proportions. Cruise ships plan to bring more than 30,000 tourists to the Svalbard Islands this summer.

Scientists have warned officials that the Svalbard Islands' fragile environment may be harmed if cruise ship visits to the islands increase.

Several cruise ships can release a considerable amount of greenhouse gases and smog, Norwegian experts say, because a single large cruise ship produces as much air pollution as 12,000 cars.

Last summer, the Norwegian Institute for Air Research measured emissions in the Geiranger fiord, one of Norway's most popular destinations, and found air pollution on par with large cities in southern Europe.

Some days, when as many as five large cruise ships lay in the fiord, smog was at the same levels found in cities like ­London, Barcelona, Munich and Oslo.

And it's not just air quality that can suffer from large cruise ship traffic.

When the big ships get too close to harbour seals, the ­animals become distressed, according to 2007 study from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on seal behavior in Alaska's scenic Disenchantment Bay.

The study found that when the large cruise ships got ­closer than 500 metres to seals, the seals were more likely to jump off the ice floes into the water.

The researchers said if seals are routinely disturbed by cruise ships, it could drain their energy reserves, leading to lower reproduction or reduced survival.

Water quality can also suffer due to cruise ship mishaps. That's because large cruise ships produce huge amounts of sewage, wastewater, hazardous wastes, oily bilge water, ballast water, and solid waste, which can escape into the water either accidentally or intentionally.

Last month, Royal Caribbean Cruises admitted it broke Alaska state law when crew members aboard the Rhapsody of the Seas mistakenly discharged 75,000 litres of what's known as "gray water," wastewater from showers and sinks.

To compensate for the impact of cruise ships on the ­environment, Alaska slapped a $50 per person tax on all cruise visitors earlier this year, which will go towards environmental monitoring and infrastructure improvements.

About one million people took cruises in Alaska last ­summer, up more than seven per cent from 2006.