The shipping industry’s environmental impact on the Baltic Sea is not common knowledge. How have decades of dirty maritime exhaust fumes affected the people and the sea? And why are the cruise ships treating the Baltic Sea like shit?
After three critically acclaimed productions covering fisheries, eutrophication and toxic chemicals comes the fourth installment in Folke Rydén’s award-winning documentary series about the Baltic Sea.
The Baltic is one of the world’s most heavily trafficked seas. Day and night, thousands of vessels transport vital cargo to millions of people. At the same time, the Baltic is one of the world’s most sensitive inland seas.
The growing cruise ship industry is also affecting the environment at sea. The gigantic cruise ships are like floating cities with thousands of inhabitants. All of them are eating, drinking and using the toilet. But despite state of the art discharge facilities in the ports, the waste from the ships’ toilets is emptied straight into the sensitive sea.
The film also pays attention to whistleblowers, scientists and experts who want to make things better. Anna Peterson at the Swedish Transport Agency is one of them. She is trying to prohibit the dumping of sewage into the Baltic Sea.
