EUROPE
Barcelona ranked worst in Europe for cruise ship pollution
June 10, 2019 -
Luxury cruise vessels docking in European ports produce two to five times more cancer-causing gases than entire passenger car fleets in those cities, according to a report.
A study of 203 cruise ships at sea in Europe in 2017, carried out by the European think-tank Transport & Environment, found that Barcelona, Palma Mallorca and Venice were the worst affected by sulphur dioxide (SOx) emissions.
In the case of Barcelona, in 2017, cruise ships emitted nearly five times as much SOx as all the city’s cars.
The city is Europe’s busiest cruise ship destination, with some 2.7 million passengers disembarking from 800 ships in 2017.
Ships run on fuel oil, which contains about 2,000 times more sulphur oxide than ordinary diesel.
In order to mitigate the environmental impact of the cruise industry, cruise liners are investing in new technologies with the aim of improving sustainability.
Carnival, one of the largest cruise ship corporations in the world, last year launched the AIDAnova, the first cruise ship powered by liquified natural gas. Ten additional such ships are to follow by 2025.
And on June 27, the Norwegian cruise line Hurtigruten plans to launch the Roald Amundsen, the world’s first hybrid-powered cruise ship, propelled by both electric motors and internal combustion engines.
Full data available here: https://www.transportenvironment.org/sites/te/files/publications/One%20Corporation%20to%20Pollute%20Them%20All_English.pdf