Presenting today an update of the study carried out four years ago ( of 5 June 2019), the independent environmental organization European Transport & Environment has reiterated the accusation made at the cruise industry pollute more, in terms of sulphur oxide (SOx) emissions, compared to cars on the road in Europe and this - highlighted T&E - despite the fact that in the 2020 the International Maritime Organization has imposed more Strict sulphur concentrations in fuels for marine use ( of 28 October 2016).

In particular, the new T&E study explains that between the 2019 and 2022 the time spent by cruise ships in the waters of the European Economic Area has increased similarly to that spent in ports, or +23% and that fuel consumed increased to a lesser extent, by +18%, as a result of of the increase of +16% of the distance traveled by ships. The Firm notes that in 2022 cruise ships sailed less for every hour spent in EEA waters is due to the fact that Some ships were still stationary at the beginning of the year as the Demand had not yet fully recovered after the lockdowns implemented to contain the spread of the Covid pandemic.

In particular, the 173 cruise ships that in 2019 were operating in Europe have sailed in the waters of Space European economic for 773 thousand hours covering almost 6.5 million nautical miles and consuming almost 2.2 million tons of fuel, while emitting 41 thousand tons of SOx, 128 thousand tons of NOx and 8 thousand tons of particulate matter 2.5. In 2022 the 218 ships sailing in EEA waters have spent there 888 thousand hours covering 7.5 million nautical miles and burning 2.6 million tons of fuel, emitting 16 thousand tons of SOx, 139 thousand tons of NOx and 7 thousand tons of particulate matter 2,5.

The study notes that between 2019 and 2022 SOx emissions in EEA waters decreased by -62% as a result of the global 0.5% of the sulphur content in marine fuels introduced in 2020. NOx increased by +8% and PM2.5 is decreased by -15%. The reduction of particulate emissions, which are related to the sulfur content of the fuel - specifies the document - may intuitively be greater, however the use increasing scrubber on ships to reduce emissions in reality worsens PM2.5 emissions compared to use of MGO marine diesel with a sulphur content of 0.1%

The study also reports emissions from ships while stopping in ports or near port ports, explaining that in 2019 the 173 cruise ships that made a call In European ports they stopped at ports for 264 thousand hours consuming 332 thousand tons of fuel, emitting 465 tons of SOx, over 16 thousand tons of NOx and 360 tons of particulate matter 2.5. In 2022, the 214 ships calling at European ports They spent 324 thousand hours at the ports burning 411 thousand tons of fuel and emitting 509 tons of SOx, over 19 thousand tons of NOx and 448 tons of particulate matter 2.5.

The document notes that, compared to 2019, the number of vessels cruise, time spent in ports and fuel consumed increased by about a quarter (+23/24%) and this has led to an increase of +9% in SOx emissions, +18% in NOx emissions and +25% of PM2.5 emissions. The reason for where SOx and NOx have not increased as much as the consumption of Fuel - notes the study - is that an increasing number of ships used scrubbers or liquefied natural gas as fuel. One of several problems with scrubbers - emphasizes the study - is that use them with oil 2.6% sulphur HFO heavy fuel to meet the standard at 0.1% sulphur increases by +61% the emissions of particulate matter compared to the use of 0.1% sulfur MGO. This explains - clarifies the document - why the emissions of PM2.5 increased even more than fuel consumption.

The T&E study notes that "what is Worse, is that it seems that, despite the increase in traffic and of cruise ship emissions, the total number of cruise passengers has decreased. The sector has therefore polluted more to transport fewer people in 2022 than in 2019." To To support this observation, the document compares the data of the cruise traffic in some of the main cruise ports Europeans, including the Italian port system of Civitavecchia, Fiumicino and Gaeta where in 2022 783 cruise ships landed, with a decrease of -2% on 2019, which transported overall 2,17 million passengers, with a reduction of -18% compared to over 2.65 million passengers in 2019. A similar trend is was found for the ports of Barcelona, Marseille, Piraeus. In the 2022 in all Mediterranean ports 14,588 were registered ports of call of cruise ships (+7% on 2019) for a traffic of 24.13 million passengers (-23% on 2019, and in all ports of the Sea Baltic the stopovers were 2.415 (- 13%) for a traffic of 4,23 million passengers (-28%).

The study explains that last year Barcelona was the Europe's most polluted port, followed by Civitavecchia and the port of Piraeus. With regard to Civitavecchia, the document points out that in 2022 cruise ships issued more than 16 tons of sulphur oxides, equal to almost 40 times the quantity issued by cars registered in the Lazio town. Other cities Italian that appear in the European ranking of the most affected by SOx emissions are Naples (11th), Genoa (13th) and Livorno (16th). Venice, on the other hand, has improved Significantly: from being the most polluted port from cruises in 2019, last year it dropped to 41st place and this, of course, is a consequence of the ban imposed from 2021 of the landing at the Maritime Station of Venice of ships of gross tonnage exceeding 25 thousand tons.

The study concludes by highlighting that, despite the introduction in 2020 by the IMO of a stricter limit of Sulphur concentration in marine fuels, last year the 218 ships European cruise emitter emitted more sulphur oxides than a billion cars, or 4.4 times more than all cars cars of the continent (253 million).

Commenting on the results of the study, the director of T&E Italy, Andrea Boraschi explained that "the pandemic has given A little respite to the port cities, but now it really is Over. Cruises are back and tourist spots like Barcelona, Civitavecchia and Athens are suffocated again air pollution from cruise ships. Venice - said Boraschi - has shown that facing Pollution from cruise ships is possible, but Bans are not the only way. Ports can reduce significantly pollution levels forcing ships to connect to electricity in the port (cold ironing, ed), instead of running the engines, and advocating the adoption of zero-emission fuels'. As for fuels, T&E points out that the shift from oil to gas use does not is the solution. At the moment - notes the document - beyond the 40% of cruise ships ordered from the world's shipyards will be equipped with dual-fuel engines capable of being powered by gas natural liquefied. Burning LNG - the study observes - these ships will generate less air pollution, but they will be extremely climate-damaging due to methane leaks from their engines, a gas more than 80 times more climate-altering of CO2. "Moving from oil to gas - said Boraschi - It is a false solution. Can help the industry cruise ships reduce local pollution, but it is Terrible from the climatic point of view. The only thing you get, In doing so, it is to exchange a crisis related to the air quality with a climate crisis. It is about alternatives that are in any case unsustainable."