Status: 06/16/2023 06:50 a.m
Cruise ships cause significantly more air pollutants in Hamburg than before the corona pandemic. This is the result of a study by European environmental organizations. According to this, Hamburg now occupies sixth place in terms of air pollution from cruises – in 2019 the Hanseatic city was still in 17th place.
The cruise ships in the port of Hamburg cause about as much sulfur oxides as all the cars that are registered in Hamburg. comes to this result the Transport & Environment study, an association of European environmental organizations in the transport sector. Among other things, sulfur dioxide irritates the respiratory tract, but it also affects nature.
40 percent more nitrogen oxides than in 2019
Compared to 2019, the last year before the corona pandemic, emissions in Hamburg increased by more than 40 percent in 2022, according to the study. The frontrunners in terms of pollutant emissions are Barcelona in Spain, followed by Civitavecchia in Italy and Piraeus in Greece. Pollution with sulfur oxides also increased significantly in Kiel in 2022, with an increase of 71 percent compared to 2019.
All cruise ships sailing in Europe have emitted as much sulfur oxides as a billion cars. The umbrella organization of cruise lines CLIA says that a lot is being invested in reducing pollutant emissions, for example by supplying ships in port with shore power.
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