When people defend supertankers, they often compare them to cruise ships.
Thetrick is focusing on one small similarity — they both float — while ignoring everything that actually matters: size, cargo, turning radius, and spill consequences.
It’s like saying a 350-pound sumo wrestler and a duck are the same opponent because they both float.
VLCC Supertankers Vs. Alaska Cruise Ships
300K
VLCC Supertanker
A fully-loaded VLCC tanker carrying 3 million barrels of toxic bitumen weighs 300,000 tonnes (DWT).
12K
Cruise Ship
Cruise ship with 2,000 drunk American tourists and snacks: weighs 12,000 tonnes (DWT).
A Cruise Ship
A Cruise Ship is essentially a floating hotel designed to carry "volume". Cruise ships have a huge Gross Tonnage (internal volume) but a low Deadweight Tonnage (carrying capacity) because snacks and drunk people are light.
Perfect illustration of why comparing cruise ships to VLCCs is petro-bro fantasy physics, not real-world seamanship.
VLCC Supertankers: A Navigation Nightmare
VLCC supertankers need to somehow navigate their 330 metres of length, 22 metres in keel depth, and 2 million barrels of toxic bitumen past 80 kilometres of rock piles and shoals in surging shallow water seas between Prince Rupert or Kitimat and the open ocean.
Space
They require space we do not have
Depth
They require depth we cannot create
Insurance
Insurers will not pretend it exists
Cruise Ships: Built for Comfort
Cruise ships navigate sheltered summer waters so their landlubber passengers can drink margaritas, pluck at shrimp cocktails, and not fall down.
The Numbers Tell the Story
Alaska Cruise Ship
The worst spill from an average Alaska cruise ship might involve Americans, buffet food, and some Norovirus.
VLCC Supertanker
A VLCC tanker carries 2–3 million BARRELS of raw bitumen, which is persistent, toxic, and deadly to sea life and marine mammals.
The Bottom Line When Albertans equate the risks posed by VLCC supertankers in our coastal waters to cruise ships, it is not just misleading—it is just wrong. The irreversible harm that would emanate from a VLCC supertanker in our coastal waters would be devastating for marine life and our coastal economy. And very real.