British Cruise Lines to pull out of the U.S Market? Debunked!

You may have heard that it has been recently reported in the news that a popular British cruise line will be dropping its Canada-New England Itineraries as a direct result of the requirements to use cleaner fuel within 200 nautical miles of said countries shores.
The origins of this story date back to March when the International Maritime Organization approved the Emissions Control Area after a joint application from Canada and the United States, paving the way for both countries to draw up regulations to enforce it and for the new requirements to go into effect by 2012.

In the ECA, the allowable level of sulphur in fuels will drop to 1 per cent in 2012 and to 0.1 per cent in 2015. The current global limit is 4.5 per cent. Cruise ships in waters within range of a coast typically burn bunker fuel (a different kind of fuel that is used when closer to shore, as opposed to on the high seas) that has a sulphur content ranging from 1.5 to 2.5 per cent. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has said the changes will save as many as 14,000 lives a year by improving air quality.
The Canadian cruise sector has been asking Transport Canada to consider the economic fallout as it draws up rules to implement the clean air buffer zone.
While saying they support the health and environmental goals behind the creation of the ECA, cruise industry associations have questioned the research on which the regime is based and warned that it could hurt the Canadian cruise sector.
Based on current fuel prices, the cost to meet the 2015 standard equates to “$100-million in additional costs for the Alaska cruises and $30-million for New England/Canada cruises annually,” the Northwest Cruise ship Association said in a May briefing note to Transport Canada.
Getting back to our British slant, it has been widely reported and repeated that a Mr. Tim Moore, a tour manager for Fred. Olsen Cruises, said a recently approved ECA would increase fuel costs by $16,000 a day, at which point the cruise line “would not be here,” according to a report on the website of Cruise Industry News.
Travel Industry Today also reported that Mr. Moore said the cruise line “will almost certainly” drop the Canada-New England region after 2012, when the cleaner fuel requirements take effect.
According to all these stories a Fred Olsen Cruise Lines representative was not immediately available to comment.
I found this quite strange, as a quick email to the marketing department for Fred Olsen netted me the original press release that started these rumours and a contradiction to them.
Below is the original press release;

FRED. OLSEN CLARIFIES FUTURE CRUISE

PROGRAMMES TO CANADA AND THE USA

Following recent reports of Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines’ activities in Canada and the US


after the emission control area comes into force in August 2012, the company has stressed that it totally supports all action that is designed to help protect the marine environment. The company is committed to following the guidelines and practices set down by global environmental authorities, and it maintains compliance with international and national laws and regulations with careful management of its environmental practices.
Fred. Olsen operates cruises to Canada and the US infrequently, and so the new Act will have limited impact on itinerary planning.
Mike Rodwell, Managing Director of Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, said: “Previous cruise itineraries that have included Canada’s east coast, and New England, have provided our passengers with a spectacular scenic experience, and so we will strive to maintain our connection with this destination.” He continued: “Here at Fred. Olsen we fully support all action designed to protect the marine environment, and we aim to operate all our vessels in the most environmentally friendly way possible.”

And here is Rachel Jacksons, from the Fred Olsen Public Relations Department, comment on the stories;

This is a situation where the story has been misrepresented in some areas of the media. At no time has Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines said that it will definitely withdraw from Canada and the US, and the new Emission Control Area will be one of the factors taken into consideration in the future itinerary planning process.

It just proves the old adage ‘you can’t believe everything you read’. We can only hope that cruise lines will face up to their environmental responsibilities, rather than running away from them if a country passes laws that that don’t fit in with their budgets, but nothing has been officially confirmed with Fred Olsen’s one way or the other.

Happy Cruising