Shipping companies and cruise ships agree to reduce pollution in the Port of Barcelona. The Barcelona City Council succeeded in negotiating with the main operators and terminals in the sector.
The agreement signed seeks to reduce as much as possible the polluting emissions generated in the development of this activity.
Among the crucial points of the agreement, a starting point was stipulated. To begin with, a working group will be created to expedite the connection of ships to the general power grid after they are docked in port.
This will be achieved through the use of clean and certified 100% renewable energy.
The collaboration agreement is signed by the Port of Barcelona, Creuers del Port de Barcelona, Royal Caribbean, Carnival, MSC Cruises, NCL Holding, Viking and Virgin Voyages. It also seeks to accelerate the power supply project in the docks of the Barcelona enclave.
Under the terms of the agreement, the public-private partnership will facilitate compliance with shore power connection availability requirements for ships by 2030.
For his part, Damià Calvet, President of the Port of Barcelona, confirmed the cruise community’s commitment to Barcelona. In fact, he described the agreement as an important step towards a solid commitment of these operators to the city and to society.
The signatories to the agreement accepted the principle of decarbonization of maritime transport.
Cruise ships agree to reduce pollution
According to figures from the Port of Barcelona, the electrification of all cruise ship docking points, the Prat dock, the Costa dock and the ferry terminals in the Sant Bertran dock will eliminate 66,000 tons of CO2.
Also of 1,234 tons of Nox from emissions caused by the development of port activities.
In other words, it will be possible to reduce 38% of the Nox and CO2 emitted by the ships while they remain at the dock and will also eliminate 22% of the emissions from all port activity.
The project for the electrification of the docks
In fact, the Port of Barcelona already has an ambitious project underway to electrify the docks. This is the Nexigen project with an investment of 110 million euros.
It is one of the most important projects of the current port administration.
The main objective is to make the Port of Barcelona a climate-neutral port by 2050.
In this context, the Maritime Authority estimates that by 2026 it will be possible for the first cruise ships to start connecting to the electricity grid at the Port of Barcelona.
This is very good news for the city, as Barcelona is one of the European cities with the highest influx of tourists arriving in the city on cruise ships.
