New fuel rules could hurt cruise business

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, July 10 (UPI) -- At least one cruise line has said it would drop Canada from its itineraries if new regulations on emissions go into effect.

Under current regulations, cruise ships within 200 miles of the Canadian coast can use fuel that is 1.5 to 2.5 percent sulfur, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported Saturday. The proposed cuts, set in an agreement with the United States, would demand sharp cuts in sulfur in the next five years with the first ones kicking in in 2012.

Canadian ports on both the Atlantic and Pacific are visited by hundreds of cruises every year with Halifax, Nova Scotia, scheduled for 130 this summer. Fred Olsen, a British cruise line, said it is considering dropping Halifax as a port of call in 2012, saying the new rules could cost it thousands of dollars a day for each ship in Canadian waters.

Betty MacMillan, a spokeswoman for the St. John Port Authority in New Brunswick, said the sulfur limit will be 1 percent by 2012 and 0.1 percent by 2015. She suggested Canada could consider other changes to take the sting out of the regulations.

"Things like shore power, where the cruise ships actually plug into power at each port of call or at some of the port of calls, can be used as a credit," she said.