Europe’s cruise ships emit as much toxic sulphur as 1 billion cars - study

Italy, Spain Greece and Norway are Europe’s cruise ship pollution hotspots, a recent study conducted by Transport & Environment (T&E) has shown.

PHOTO: A cruise ship sailing. Getty Images

The study has highlighted the alarming levels of air pollution caused by cruise ships in Europe’s port cities and found that emissions have exceeded pre-pandemic levels.

“Despite the introduction of the UN shipping body’s sulphur cap in 2020, last year Europe’s 218 cruise ships emitted as many sulphur oxides (SOx) as 1 billion cars,” says T&E.

T&E says that the total number of cruise ships, their time spent around ports in Europe and the amount of fuel consumed, all rose by about 23-24% when compared to 2019 levels. This has resulted in an increase of 9% of sulphur oxide (SOx) emissions, 18% of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions and 25% in particulate matter (PM2.5) emissions.

The study has identified Barcelona as Europe’s most polluted port, followed by Civitavecchia near Rome and the port of Piraeus in Athens. According to T&E, luxury cruise ships in Barcelona emit nearly three times more SOx than all the cars in the entire city.

Constance Dijkstra, shipping campaigner at T&E, said, “The pandemic provided some respite for port cities, but this is now well and truly over. Cruising is back and tourist hotspots like Barcelona and Athens are again choking on toxic air pollution from cruise ships.”

But the study also reveals a positive trend observed in the Italian port of Venice, where air pollutants from cruise ships dropped by 80% after the city banned large cruise ships in 2021. Venice has dropped from being the most polluted port in Europe in 2019 to the 41st on that list after the ban.

If an outright ban on large cruise ships is not possible, ports can take other measures to rein in emissions, T&E argues.

“Ports can significantly reduce pollution levels by forcing ships to plug into electricity at the port instead of running their engines, and by supporting the adoption of zero-emission fuels,” added Dijkstra.

Italy has surpassed Spain as the most cruise ship-polluted country in Europe.

“Although the Mediterranean bears the brunt of cruise ship pollution, Norway came fourth in the ranking and even had the highest cruise traffic of any country, albeit with smaller ships,” said T&E.

New sulphur regulations for the Mediterranean are set to curb the SOx emitted by ships from the middle of the decade. From 1 May 2025, the Mediterranean Sea will become a 0.1% sulphur-capped Emission Control Area (ECA). This means the Mediterranean will have the same SOx limit as the ECA in the North Sea and Norway.

Norway, for its part, has zero emission regulations coming into force for its World Heritage fjords – where much of the cruise traffic is. From 1 January 2026, Norway’s fjords will become among the first zero-emission waters in the world.

The T&E study found the most polluting cruise ship operator in Europe to be MSC Cruises, with its ships emitting nearly as much as SOx as all passenger vehicles in Europe. Carnival Group and all its subsidiaries control 63 ships and was found to be the parent company with the most SOx emissions overall, emitting 43% more than all European cars in 2022.

By Aparupa Mazumder 

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