METHODS article
Front. Conserv. Sci.
Sec. Global Biodiversity Threats
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcosc.2025.1552357
This article is part of the Research TopicImpacts of Anchor Scour, Vessel Moorings and Associated Infrastructure on Marine HabitatsView all 4 articles
Low-cost, high-resolution method for determining cruise ship anchoring behaviour to assess potential impacts on sensitive tropical marine habitats
Provisionally accepted
- 1School of Ocean and Earth Science, Faculty of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, Hampshire, United Kingdom
- 2The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Bridgetown, Barbados
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Anchoring is well known to cause potentially significant damage to sensitive marine habitats, yet is relatively poorly studied, especially for cruise ships. These are among the largest ships in the world and frequently seek to visit relatively unspoilt tropical destinations, where docking facilities are absent or inadequate, resulting in cruise ships anchoring instead. Limited resources in agencies tasked with marine management in these destinations often constrain the ability to assess potential impacts and develop robust anchoring protocols based on scientific information that seek to preserve valuable marine habitats. In this study we present a low-cost method for identifying anchoring events and studying the detailed movement of cruise ships at anchor to determine their anchoring footprint and to map maximum potential habitat damage. This methodological approach using open access automatic identification systems (AIS) data is particularly well suited to destinations where resources for marine management are scarce, yet the environmental and socioeconomic cost of anchoring damage is likely to be high.
Keywords: Anchor damage, Barbados, marine habitats, Small island developing states, cruise ships, Automatic identification systems (AIS)
Received: 27 Dec 2024; Accepted: 02 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Small and Oxenford. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Micaela Small, School of Ocean and Earth Science, Faculty of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, Hampshire, United Kingdom
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