The president of the Port Authority of Barcelona created the Consell per a la Sostenibilitat dels Creuers (CSC) in May 2023.
Article from CruisesNews magazine no. 68 – March 2024
The Council's objectives are to improve the transparency of cruise activity in the Port of Barcelona, to create a space to share and coordinate the different initiatives initiated by the various institutions, to reduce the negative environmental and social impacts of cruises, to increase the social and economic return of the sector on the city and its hinterland, and to strengthen the connection of cruise lines with the city's business, educational and employment fabric.
Representatives from the Barcelona City Council, the Catalan Government, and the Spanish Government Delegation sit at a single table, along with representatives from Barcelona's economic and social organizations. In addition to those mentioned above, the Barcelona Provincial Council, the Maritime Authority, Barcelona Regional, the Air Route Development Committee, the Cruise Port Community, and other economic and social entities are also members of the Council for the Sustainability of Cruises.
The Port of Barcelona's ambition is to become a home port for cruise ships, not just a port of call, which would allow for increased spending per cruise passenger
The framework within which Consell's activities take place is the agreement between the Port of Barcelona and the Barcelona City Council, dated January 19, 2018. This agreement limited the maximum number of cruise terminals to seven, which were then grouped together at the Moll Adossat, freeing up those located in Port Vell for public use. This strategy aimed to reduce emissions from the city and decisively position Barcelona as a home port for cruise ships, encouraging shipowners to manage their own maritime stations under concession agreements. Implementation of the agreement represents a total investment of approximately €335 million, of which €140 million corresponds to the port and €195 million to private investment.
In this forum, the Port of Barcelona can work together with its partners through working committees and the plenary session, transparently communicate the indicators associated with compliance with the plan, organize annual events on the sustainability of cruises, legally analyze the contractual situation of the different concessions related to cruises, and develop a Digital Data Platform.
Port-City Integration
: This agreement comprised several phases that the Port of Barcelona is strictly adhering to and will culminate in 2026 when all cruise terminals will be grouped at the Moll Adossat (Adossat Wharf), with a maximum of seven terminals. Thus, in 2023, the North Terminal at Moll de Barcelona was closed, and the Balearia ferry terminal was relocated to make way for the America's Cup bases in Port Vell. This has become the perfect catalyst for accelerating projects that will largely benefit the city. The tender for Terminal G (the last one according to the 2018 agreement) was also launched and awarded to Royal Caribbean. Work on the urbanization and superstructure of the Moll Adossat has been accelerated, as has phase 4 of its expansion. The works related to the America's Cup, to be held next summer, are also progressing well.
When these actions are completed, the Port of Barcelona will open the Barcelona dock to the public, and will continue to promote other social action areas, such as reducing the seasonality of cruises, reducing congestion in certain areas of the city, and facilitating the generation of local employment in the cruise industry.
Barcelona: A Leading Homeport in the Mediterranean.
As Barcelona becomes a leader in cruises and boasts, unlike other Mediterranean ports, state-of-the-art cruise terminals managed by the cruise lines themselves—terminals far superior to those found elsewhere—it will solidify its position as a homeport. This status brings cruise passengers who generate the most value for the city and for Catalonia. In 2002, nearly 40% of Barcelona's cruise passengers embarked in the Catalan capital. The commitment of cruise lines such as MSC, Costa, Royal Caribbean, and others to the Catalan capital ensures this trend. Furthermore, new clients like Viking and Virgin Cruises have also chosen Barcelona as their homeport, in a context of fierce competition with other Mediterranean ports such as Marseille and Civitavecchia. Cruise ships based in Barcelona will generate more than one million overnight stays annually, guaranteeing an average expenditure of €202 per person per day per cruise passenger—more than double the expenditure of a tourist arriving in Barcelona by other means—and resulting in longer cruise passenger stays. Their total impact on Catalonia is €1.083 billion.
This homeport strategy has also allowed the Port of Barcelona to position itself as a Mediterranean leader in supplying alternative fuels to cruise ships. The Haugesund Knutsen barge provides LNG to Costa, Aida, and P&O ships calling at Barcelona, while several Royal Caribbean ships used biodiesel last summer. Twenty percent of the ships calling at Barcelona use LNG while docked, and 40% are equipped to consume electricity from an operational power station (OPS) when available.
This economic focus is complemented by the development of trade relations between Catalonia's productive sectors and the cruise industry, which will undoubtedly lead to exciting innovation projects. It will also diversify the range of places to visit and activities to enjoy.
Cutting-edge environmental policy:
The Nexigen project is a key initiative of the Port of Barcelona to reduce CO2 emissions from port operations by 50% by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2050. The electrification of the Port's main docks will eliminate approximately 66,000 tons of CO2 and 1,234 tons of NOx generated by port activity. Furthermore, this project is co-financed by the Sustainable and Digital Transport Support Program, thus reinforcing the Port of Barcelona's commitment to sustainability and innovation in the maritime sector. In March of this year, the first OPS substation arrived at the Port of Barcelona, in this case at a container terminal. In February, the Board of Directors of the Port of Barcelona began the bidding process for the construction and commissioning of the first OPS at a cruise terminal, specifically the one to be installed at the future MSC Cruises terminal, currently under construction at Moll Adossat. This system is designed to provide electricity to docked cruise ships, allowing them to shut down their engines and, consequently, reduce emissions of polluting gases. The investment for this project amounts to €14,524,755.63. The OPS system is expected to be fully operational by 2026, in line with the objectives of the Nexigen project.
The Council for the Sustainability of Cruises promotes knowledge of cruises, documents their real impact, and allows participation in solving problems that arise
Simultaneously, the Port Authority has awarded the contract for the construction of the underground pipelines that will connect the Energy and Adossat docks, at a cost of €14,955,143.82 and with a completion time of 28 months. This infrastructure, which will run 700 meters below sea level, is key to the expansion of the OPS network to the Adossat Dock.
All these actions align with the Port of Barcelona's Fourth Strategic Plan. The Energy Transition Plan includes measures such as connecting docked ships to the electrical grid, generating electricity with solar panels, and promoting new fuels, with LNG serving as a transition towards zero-emission options like bioLNG, methanol, ammonia, etc. Among these initiatives are the construction of a green methanol production plant, a fuel that will be used by cruise ships already under construction for Port of Barcelona clients such as Celebrity, NCL, and Explora Journeys, and, in the medium term, another biomethane production plant using waste.
Emissions Reduction:
The Port of Barcelona is promoting a policy to encourage the use of low-emission vessels (equipped with batteries or OPS connections), advanced wastewater treatment facilities, and desalination plants. A new ordinance regulating the impact of vessel operations on air and water quality in the port is currently being drafted.
According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a UN agency, maritime transport accounts for 3% of global CO2 emissions. Of that 3%, which includes all vessels at sea, 4% are cruise ships, representing 0.12% of global CO2 emissions.
Improving urban mobility is another objective of the CSC, despite the fact that emissions from the Port of Barcelona account for only 6.9% of the NOx emissions measured in the city of Barcelona. And of that 6.9%, cruise ships represent only 10%. Regarding PMx emissions, the Port of Barcelona's contribution is even smaller, at only 5.6%, of which cruise ships account for just 3.6%.
In addition, some operators have started using electric buses for optional excursions in Barcelona.
A supportive cruise community
: Faced with the severe drought affecting Catalonia, the cruise industry reached an agreement last February with the Port of Barcelona not to take on water supplies for the duration of the drought emergency declared by the Catalan government. This decision reaffirms the sustainability strategy regarding water consumption that the industry has been adopting in recent years, reducing consumption and increasing onboard production.
This reduces its dependence on external freshwater supplies, freeing up water for other uses. The Port of Barcelona, together with the port community and the cruise industry, has developed several water conservation initiatives. These efforts have resulted in a significant reduction in water consumption by cruise ships in the port.
In 2022, ships took on water at less than 30% of their port calls, a notable decrease compared to the 50% recorded in 2017. It is worth noting that cruise ships account for only 0.09% of the city's total water consumption.
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