MedCruise, the Mediterranean Cruise Ports Association, strongly rejects the conclusions of the report recently published by Transport & Environment (June 2019) on cruise ship emissions, as they are based on internal analyses that have not been scientifically verified.
The MedCruise Association represents over 130 cruise ports in the Mediterranean, Adriatic, Black Sea, Red Sea, and Near Atlantic, as well as 31 Associate Members, including tourism boards, municipalities, cruise terminal operators, tour operators, and port agents. Environmental protection and sustainability are fundamental to all of them. For this reason, MedCruise collaborates with the European Commission in various forums and workshops comprised of industry experts. Among others, MedCruise is an active member of the European Sustainable Shipping Forum and the European Ports Forum, as well as its Subgroup on Sustainable Ports. Furthermore, MedCruise cooperates with the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) and the Safety Advisory Group on Maritime Affairs (SAGMAS).
The MedCruise Association has its own Sustainability Working Group, which analyzes, among other things, the investments needed to supply LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) to ships docking in its ports and to equip the piers with electrical hook-up systems so that ships can connect directly to the grid. Specifically, in this working group, the Association's experts share best practices based on the experiences of its members so that all cruise ports can supply LNG to the 25 new cruise ships in the pipeline that will be 100% LNG-powered. This will completely eliminate sulfur oxide and particulate matter emissions in the ports. Furthermore, 55 cruise ships, representing more than 27% of the total capacity of the global cruise fleet, are already equipped with dock electrical hook-up (SSE) systems.
MedCruise and its members are fully committed to the new International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations on reducing sulfur oxide emissions, which will come into force on 1 January 2020, and to reducing total annual greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% by 2050 compared to emissions produced during 2008.
The cruise industry is a leader in the fight against climate change within the maritime transport sector. Despite representing only 2% of total maritime transport emissions, the cruise industry is investing heavily in making cruise ships more environmentally friendly, equipping them with state-of-the-art technology and exhaust gas cleaning systems (EGCS), thereby reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, sulfur oxides, and particulate matter.
MedCruise President Airam Díaz Pastor stressed that “the great work our members do to promote the sustainable growth of cruise activities and to work towards a greener industry cannot be questioned by unverified reports full of prejudice and assumptions”.
In conclusion, the Association fully supports and endorses any initiative and recommendation on sustainability, such as the creation of new SECAs (Selective Settlement Areas), tax exemptions for SSEs (Seaside Enterprises), and actions aimed at achieving a zero-emission industry, provided that the data and methodology used to reach the conclusions are accepted by the scientific community. For this reason, MedCruise does not share the findings of the report published by Transport & Environment, as they lack scientific basis and are based on assumptions rather than facts.
