Costa Cruises

Costa Cruises - Final Grade: "F"

Costa Cruises is an Italian cruise line based in Italy. Founded in 1854, Costa is a subsidiary of Carnival Corp. which is incorporated in Panama and controls almost 50 percent of the worldwide cruise ship market. Costa has a fleet of 13 cruise ships that all sail under the Italian flag.

Of Costa’s 13 ships, only four have installed advanced sewage treatment systems, resulting in a grade of F for the company’s 18 percent sewage treatment score. Five Costa ships have plug-in capability but only three ships actually dock at a port with shoreside power hookups, earning Costa an F for air pollution reduction. No Costa ships traveled to Alaska between 2010 and 2021, but 9 Costa ships have scrubbers installed giving Costa an F for water quality compliance since scrubber use merely converts air pollution into toxic water pollution.

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Costa Cruises - Cruise Ship Fleet

Ship Name Cruise Line Total Persons on Board Destinations Sewage Treatment

Sewage Treatment

Has the cruise line installed the most advanced sewage and wastewater treatment systems available instead of dumping minimally treated sewage directly into the water? In determining a cruise line’s Sewage Treatment grade, we compared the number of cruise ships in the cruise line that have installed advanced sewage treatment systems against the total number of ships in the cruise line. Ships with AWTS were downgraded in 2020 since no companies publicly report on the performance of those advanced systems.

 Air Pollution Reduction

Air Pollution Reduction

Has the cruise line installed shorepower or adopted cleaner fuel worldwide? In determining the Air Pollution Reduction grade for each ship in a cruise line, ships that dock at a port and plug in to available shoreside power hookups were graded. In addition, ships were given credit if they utilize low sulfur fuels continuously worldwide at levels lower than required by international law. Use of scrubbers is not considered since the scrubbers in use by the cruise industry simply convert air pollution emissions into water pollution through their scrubber wastewater discharges.

 Water Quality Compliance

Water Quality Compliance

To what degree did cruise ships violate water pollution standards designed to better protect the Alaskan coast? In determining the Water Quality Compliance grade for cruise ships, we used notices of violation issued for individual cruise ships to each cruise line by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation from 2010 to 2019. In addition, we downgraded ships for their use of scrubbers since scrubbers convert air pollution emissions into water pollution.

 Final Ship Grade
Curved Grading Scale
A 100-85 Excellent
B 84-70 Satisfactory
C 69-50 Needs Work
D 49-25 Poor
F 24-0 Unacceptable
N/A Not Graded No Discharge in Alaskan Waters or Scrubber Use

**For the 2021 Cruise Ship Report Card, we graded 18 cruise lines and 202 cruise ships of those 18 lines operating around the world. All cruise ships from each cruise line were included in this report card. Friends of the Earth relied on data gathered from the internet, government sources, the cruise line industry, and other public sources in order to determine the grades assigned to the cruise lines. Friends of the Earth did not independently verify that the technology graded in the report card was installed on the individual cruise ships.
Costa Fortuna Costa Cruises 4497 Caribbean, Europe, Mediterranean 00 00 00 00
Costa Magica Costa Cruises 4497 Mediterranean 00 00 00
Costa Favolosa Costa Cruises 4910 Caribbean, Europe, Mediterranean, South America 00 04 00 00
Costa Pacifica Costa Cruises 4890 Caribbean, Mediterranean, Middle East 00 00 00 00
Costa Smeralda Costa Cruises 8200 Asia, Mediterranean, South America 05 00 00 00
Costa Firenze Costa Cruises 6400 Asia, Mediterranean, South America 05 00 01
Costa Toscana Costa Cruises 8246 Asia, Mediterranean 05 00 00 00
Costa Serena Costa Cruises 4800 Asia 00 00 00
Costa Venezia Costa Cruises 6538 Mediterranean 05 00 01
Costa Deliziosa Costa Cruises 3928 Africa, Central America, New England, South America, Florida 00 04 00 00
Costa Fascinosa Costa Cruises 4910 Caribbean, Europe, Mediterranean, North Africa 00 07 00 00
Costa Diadema Costa Cruises 6200 Europe, Mediterranean, Middle East 00 07 00 00
Costa Luminosa Costa Cruises 3876 Mediterranean, South America 00 07 00 00

 

Grading Methodology For The 2022 Cruise Ship Report Card

Friends of the Earth’s Cruise Ship Report Card ranks 18 major cruise lines and 213 cruise ships — AIDA Cruises, Carnival Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard Cruise Line, Disney Cruise Line, Holland America Line, MSC Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Oceania Cruises, P&O Cruises, Princess Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Royal Caribbean Int’l, Seabourn Cruise Line, Silversea Cruises, Viking Cruises, and Virgin Voyages — according to four environmental criteria: Sewage Treatment, Air Pollution Reduction, Water Quality Compliance and Transparency.

Sewage Treatment
To determine a cruise line’s Sewage Treatment grade, we compared the number of cruise ships in the cruise line that have installed advanced sewage treatment systems (AWTS) against the total number of ships in the cruise line. Ships with AWTS have been downgraded from As to Cs since 2020 because no companies publicly report on the performance of those advanced systems.

Air Pollution Reduction
To determine the Air Pollution Reduction grade for each ship in a cruise line, ships that dock at a port and plug in to available shoreside power hookups were graded. In addition, ships were given credit if they utilize low sulfur fuels continuously worldwide at levels lower than required by international law. Use of scrubbers is not considered since the significant majority of scrubbers in use by the cruise industry simply convert air pollution emissions into water pollution through their scrubber wastewater discharges.

Water Quality Compliance
To determine the Water Quality Compliance grade for ships operating in Alaska, we used notices of violation issued for individual cruise ships to each cruise line by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation from 2010 to 2021. We also failed ships for their scrubber use since scrubbers convert air pollution emissions into water pollution.

Transparency
To determine the Transparency grade for each cruise line we graded each cruise line based on whether it responded to our 2022 requests for information regarding their environmental practices. Companies that responded with specifics were given As, those that didn’t received failing grades.

Grades In Comparison: Report Cards From Previous Years

2022 Cruise Ship Report Card
2021 Cruise Ship Report Card
2020 Cruise Ship Report Card
2019 Cruise Ship Report Card
2016 Cruise Ship Report Card
2014 Cruise Ship Report Card
2013 Cruise Ship Report Card
2012 Cruise Ship Report Card
2010 Cruise Ship Report Card
2009 Cruise Ship Report Card

**For the 2022 Cruise Ship Report Card, we graded 18 cruise lines and 213 cruise ships of those 18 lines operating around the world. All cruise ships from each cruise line were included in this report card. Friends of the Earth relied on data gathered from the internet, government sources, the cruise line industry, and other public sources in order to determine the grades assigned to the cruise lines. Friends of the Earth did not independently verify that the technology graded in the report card was installed on the individual cruise ships.