Cruise ships plug into hydropower
Cruise ships docking at the Port of Vancouver are turning off their
diesel-powered engines and tapping into hydropower generated by
utility British Columbia Hydro.
Princess Cruises spent C$7.2 million (US$7 million) to equip its
ships with new technology allowing them to plug into an onshore
transformer at the Canadian port. It's a first for Canada and only
the third of its kind in the world.
The clean onshore power source will be used to carry out the ships\'
services and will reduce emissions from the diesel engines of cruise
ships in downtown Vancouver, said Charlie Ball, president of Princess
Tours.
From: hydroworld.com
July 24, 2009
Princess cruise ship impales fin whale, docks at Vancouver port
Unclear whether whale was killed by ship or was hit after it died
By Sam Cooper
The Province
A boater inspects a dead whale stuck on the bow of the Sapphire Princess in Vancouver, July 25, 2009.
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VANCOUVER — A fin whale was impaled and dragged dead into the Port of Vancouver on the bow of a luxury cruise ship Saturday morning.
The whale, about 20 metres long, was wrapped around the bow of the docked Sapphire Princess in full view of flocks of tourists at Canada Place, many snapping pictures of the disturbing sight.
At 3:30 p.m. the carcass was finally dislodged from the ship's protruding bow and towed away by tugboats, after divers and coast guard officials had secured the heavy body in ropes and harnesses.
A man who said he had worked aboard the Sapphire Princess for five years, who didn't want to be named, told The Province he was not sure when the whale had been hit.
"From what I hear there was a bit of a rumbling this morning," he said. "It's too bad; I wish we had some system to detect them."
Julie Benson, spokeswoman for Princess Cruises, said the company does not know when the whale became lodged on the ship, except it had to be somewhere between Vancouver and the last port of call at Ketchikan, Alaska.
The whale was first noticed at 6:30 Saturday morning, as the ship was about 30 minutes away from the Canada Place dock, she said.
"We were shocked and saddened," Benson said. "We take this very seriously."
Benson said the Canadian Coast Guard and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans attended to investigate the circumstances of the whale's death. It's possible the whale was dead before it was hit by the ship, she said.
Benson said she could not provide information on the last time a company ship had struck a whale.
Benson said Princess Cruises has a "whale avoidance" policy, with navigation equipment and spotters on the bridges of its ships.
"We think we have very good practices in place," she said. Asked if the company would review whale-avoidance procedures, Benson said it is too early to say.
Benson said she's not sure where the whale will be disposed of. Calls to coast guard and DFO officials were not returned Saturday.
In June 1999, a similar event occurred in Vancouver, with a deceased fin whale arriving in port stuck to the bow of a Celebrity Cruise Lines ship.
It was towed to a secluded area near Boundary Bay to decompose, The Province reported.
A Scottish couple, John and Margaret Davis, said they had specifically selected the Sapphire Princess cruise for whale-watching. "It's a shame, it's not the way I wanted to see whales," Margaret said as she looked on from a balcony outside Canada Place.
"It's dreadful," her husband added.
Don Wykes from Scottsdale, Arizona, was preparing to embark on the Sapphire Princess for a 50th-anniversary trip with his wife and family.
"We've seen whales on Alaska cruises before but never like this," he said.
On Saturday, Sarah King of Greenpeace said some fin-whale populations in the southern hemisphere are endangered.
"It's not surprising that a fin whale would be struck," she said. "Ship strikes are a huge concern for larger fin and blue whales."
King said whale strikes are becoming more common in coastal areas, "with increased vessel traffic" from fishing boats, oil tankers and cruise ships.
"The government needs to put limits on vessel traffic in areas with higher whale populations," she said. "Cruise ships and other vessels need to take more care with pace and whale surveillance."
In 1999, well-known anti-whaling activist Paul Watson told The Province cruise ships could do more in installing sonar whale-avoidance technology.
"These big, fast vessels are always a danger to whales," Watson said. "They usually strike the animal and it is swept aside or it sinks to the bottom."
Fin whales are listed as threatened under the Species at Risk Act.
© Copyright (c) The Province
A diver and tugboat crews were called in to remove a dead whale stuck on the bow of the Sapphire Princess while docked at Canada Place in Vancouver Saturday. The Princess Cruises vessel began its journey from Alaska a week ago.
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