I didn't want to fly – so I took a cargo ship from Germany to Canada

I mean....yes. Yes, your carbon footprint is smaller by travelling slower. But you need to be in an extremely priviledged position to be able to afford travelling this way, both financially and time-wise. Cross-atlantic is obviously quite extreme, but even within Europe a train is not really a viable alternative for a lot of people, when I go to visit my family the choice is either a ~£100 Ryanair ticket for a 2 hour flight, or around 40 hour long train journey that will cost at least £500 one way. I just don't have the money or the time to travel this way. I don't know what's the right answer here - I suspect it is "just don't travel then".

&gt; ships rarely have room for more than a dozen passengers<p>Reason is that you need a ship&#x27;s doctor if there are more than 12 passengers.

There is no mention of the type of fuel the cargo ship burned while outside of port (bunker fuel, anyone?). The three citations at the end of the article simply reference generic sites, not specific information.

The carbon calculations seems questionable. The author should include all energy used on board the ship, which is entirely from fossil fuels. The energy required to desalinate seawater for drinking&#x2F;washing was probably greater than a flight.<p>Also, an additional, unnecessary person on the ship is slightly increasing the risk of diverting the ship because of a medical emergency. Imagine how much carbon would be burned if this massive ship had to turn around to drop off a sick passenger.

Cargo ships are unregulated and burn the lowest grade oil called bunker fuel. These ships can emit the equivalent sulfur emissions of 19 million ICE vehicles.[1]<p>[1]<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.cadmatic.com&#x2F;resource&#x2F;articles&#x2F;does-one-ship-pollute-as-much-as-50-million-cars-" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.cadmatic.com&#x2F;resource&#x2F;articles&#x2F;does-one-ship-pol...</a>

Seems like offsetting would be easier?<p>That&#x27;s one of those economically sensible things that normal people dont seem to like though.