The ‘Spectrum of the Seas’ was the first cruise liner to arrive in Phuket in 2022 and resume regular trips to the island from Singapore. The 168,666-tonne vessel with to 6,000 passengers and crew returned to Patong this morning but instead of regular exalted cheers provoked environmental worries.
Foreign tourists and local beach operators noticed thick smoke released by the vessel and were “affected by it”, reports of the ’Spectrum of the Seas’ visit say.
“There was a lot of criticism as an operator of such a cruise ship should care about possible air pollution,” the reports added.
According to “preliminary assumptions”, the smoke could be produced by the liner’s kitchen or diesel-powered generators. Regardless, local residents asked relevant officials “to take care of it urgently”.
It was not specified if the smoke was any different from what the ’Spectrum of the Seas’ or any other liner produced before.
According to Phuket Immigration, in March the island welcomed 12 cruise liners from abroad plus 79 private yachts. In total 27,316 people were registered as coming to Phuket by sea and passing immigration clearance here.
The top 5 nationalities of marine traffic entries were Singapore (7,986), Malaysia (5,663), United States (3,477), India (1,719) and Indonesia (1,492).