Environment Minister Elise Archer must take immediate action to prevent cruise ships burning dangerous bunker fuel while in Tasmanian waters.
Cruise ships visiting Hobart increased in number from 32 to 48 last season and will exceed 60 this year. Most of those ships use a cheap, heavy fuel oil known as bunker fuel.
Bunker fuel is the sludge at the bottom of a barrel of crude oil left after the refining process. It can contain 3,500 times more sulphur than standard diesel.
The International Maritime Organisation estimates that burning bunker fuel causes 80,000 deaths a year worldwide. It’s so toxic it has been banned within 200 nautical miles of ports in Europe and the US. It is also banned in Sydney Harbour.
The Hobart City Council and the Australian Senate have passed motions to limit sulphur content in fuel to 0.1%, and the Federal Government has indicated it would be open to a request by Minister Archer to regulate stricter emissions standards for cruise ships in the port of Hobart.
But the Tasmanian Liberals have refused, and continue to allow ships to burn bunker fuel while docked in the port of our biggest city. Today, the Silver Shadow – a ship with an “F” pollution rating from Friends of the Earth – is docked in the Hobart, spewing toxic gases and asthma-causing particulates into the air around the Hunter Street Art School, Macq 1 and the Hobart docks.
Environment Minister Elise Archer must put public health above the penny-pinching of international cruise ships, and take steps to ensure all visiting cruise ships are subject to the same regulations as those that berth in Sydney Harbour.
Cassy O’Connor MP | Greens leader, Member for Denison
