MARITIME: Cruise Ship Accidentally Discharges Wastewater at Port
By Our Correspondent
On November 1, 2023, the Carnival Cruise Line ship “CARNIVAL MAGIC” appeared to experience an inadvertent discharge of wastewater from its exhaust gas cleaning system (EGCS) while docked at the harbor in the Turks and Caicos Islands, according to FleetMon.
It stated; “This unintentional discharge resulted in the release of toxic residue that had accumulated in the ship’s tanks.
“The incident occurred as the ship was preparing to depart from the port after a day-long visit. The discharge originated from the ship’s Exhaust Gas Control System (EGCS), commonly referred to as a scrubber.
“A Carnival spokesperson indicated that a power outage was one of the contributing factors to the accidental discharge. They also noted that the appropriate authorities were promptly informed, and the CARNIVAL MAGIC’s team took immediate action to clean up the soot discharge from the ship’s Exhaust Gas Control System.
“Passengers on board reported a temporary power outage at around 5:30 PM, just before the ship’s scheduled departure at 6:00 PM. The power was restored within a minute, but during this time, emergency lighting was activated.
“Despite the restoration of power, passengers noticed a significant dark stain in the water behind the ship. Initially, they assumed it was an oil spill, but the ship’s captain later clarified the situation.
“The ship eventually departed from the port of Grand Turk at 8:45 PM, which was two hours and 45 minutes later than the originally scheduled departure time. The cruise ship’s overall schedule remained unaffected.
“Carnival’s EGCS, or scrubber, serves the purpose of removing particulate emissions like soot, incompletely burned oil, and ash from the ship’s combustion stacks. It accomplishes this by spraying alkaline water, typically seawater, into the vessel’s exhaust stacks, reducing sulfur dioxide and particulate emissions from the exhaust.
“The pollutants contained in the wastewater, often referred to as “scrubber sludge,” are typically discharged in the open ocean in accordance with standards set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).”
