In the last few days it has become viral on social A video in which you can see one cruise ship which downloads a huge amount of waste and sewage off Civitavecchia, with the date reported 22/03/25. In reality it is not an authentic video but one ‘false image generated with artificial intelligence and it is good to underline how in reality it drain of black water functions in a very different way.
The analysis of the fake video on the cruise ship in Civitavecchia
The fact that it is a fake news and that the video is made with theTO THE, It is clear for several reasons: On the one hand, the boat depicted does not make sense from an engineering point of view. On the other hand, some of the users who posted the video confirmed the use of AI in the realization of the content, removing any doubt. To note, however, how some pages to catch a few more likes have decided to omit this information, making his audience believe that this is a authentic video.
Beyond this, it is interesting to deepen the speech of the management of black waters (i.e. the sewage that come from the discharges of the sanitary ware) on cruise ships, given that the first ones who spread the video had as its objective that of “sensitize“On the subject. As is easy to guess, in reality things work quite differently.
The management of black water on large ships
First it is good to remember how any operation that has to do with the management of black water on cruise ships must submit to very rigid environmental conventionssuch as the Marpol 73/78, Annex IV. The exhaust is possible in one of the following conditions:
- the waters not treated must be downloaded only in areas ad At least 12 nautical miles (about 22 km) from the coasts, that is in international waters;
- the treated waters Instead they have a minimum limit of 3 nautical miles from the coast (i.e. about 5.5 km).
How does the treatment happen? Simplifying, on board the ships the black waters they are collected inside special tanks inside which are present Aerobi bacteria For decompose organic matter. After that the water undergoes various treatments, such as filtering various e UV raysso as to make it downloadable at sea.
In any case, in both cases it is necessary that the sewage will be first collected within special tanks and that they are subsequently released at sea gradually (not all at once therefore) and in motion, with a minimum cruise speed of 4 knots (about 7 km/h).
Alternatively, in some ports there are special structures in which to issue the black waters treated according to specific regulations (e.g. Marpol Art Convention. 9.1.1.), so as to collect them immediately and avoid environmental problems.
