La entrada Why cruise ships, the most polluting vessels, are left out of the port emissions savings project se publicó primero en La Voz De Ibiza.
]]>As La Voz de Ibiza had warned when the APB presented the call for tenders, the initiative contemplated in its statement «an infrastructure of off-shore connections for ships and cruise ships». cruise ships«. However, the project then made no mention of the latter vessels, and was limited to ferry and fast ferry type vessels.
«As of today, the infrastructure on the islands to provide the necessary power to serve cruise ships is not feasible. It is a logistical issue,» an APB spokesman had explained.
The company that won the bid for this project is Sampol, which has not yet started the works because one of the competitors has filed an appeal with the Central Administrative Tribunal for Contractual Resources (TACRC).
When asked by La Voz de Ibiza, Pedro Andreu Llull, responsible for the project on behalf of Sampol, explains the logistical impediments referred to by the APB. «The issue of cruise ships is the power demand they have for when they are docked. By regulation, the demand for a cruise ship has to be 16 megawatts. So, if we consider a ‘normal’ port in which one, two, three, four cruise ships arrive at the same time, and that all of them want to be supplied, it is a huge power, which has to be available in the network: both by Endesa and the distribution network».
So,» continues Andreu Llull, «if there are no substations with that power available near the port, it is unfeasible to supply the cruise ships. That is why they say from the port authority that, at least in this first instance, there is no infrastructure because there is no power».
A possibility for the future
Sampol’s engineer believes that «surely over the years it will be put on the table» to improve the infrastructure to be able to supply cruise ships with OPS technology, the system that helps reduce emissions and that will work through two mobile containers in the South Botafoc Marsh. In fact, Andrea Llull reveals that the APB has consulted both Endesa and REE on the subject.
In any case, he admits that for this «it would be necessary to carry out works in power lines, to make extensions of new existing substations, it would have to be evaluated». In short, «at present, with the power available around the ports of the Balearic Islands, it is not something that could come into play».
Emissions reduction
Although it is difficult to quantify the environmental benefit of the OPS system, because it depends on the time ships spend in port and the size of the vessel, estimates indicate that the use of these containers produces 96% of nitrogen oxides, 36% of sulfur oxides, 68% of particulate matter and 45% of CO2.
But the impact on the Port of Ibiza’s total emissions will be much less significant when excluding cruise ships from the equation.
For example, according to 2019 data from the International Maritime Organization, the average amount of carbon dioxide emissions from cruise ships worldwide has been nearly 30 times greater than those generated by ferries.
La entrada Why cruise ships, the most polluting vessels, are left out of the port emissions savings project se publicó primero en La Voz De Ibiza.
]]>La entrada Port of Ibiza: more cruises scheduled but fewer passengers for 2025 se publicó primero en La Voz De Ibiza.
]]>This has been advanced from the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) to La Voz de Ibiza. In addition, for the moment, the ships will bring 516,690 tourists as scheduled. This figure is somewhat lower than last season, which closed with 580,830 passengers. Meanwhile, the restriction of a maximum of two cruise ships docked simultaneously is maintained, and the number of 3,000 cruise passengers waiting to disembark will not be exceeded. This planning carried out by the Consell de Ibiza and the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) is to avoid traffic jams, long waits or tourists choosing other transfer options rather than the maritime one.
They ask to remove the limitation
The Platform in Favor of Cruises has asked the Government and the companies not to renew the agreement signed in May 2022 for the limitation of arrivals. The spokeswoman for the platform, Alex Fraile, has recalled that the objective with which it was signed was to flatten the peaks, to avoid that some days there were three or four and others there were none. Fraile has stated that those who are against cruise tourism «manipulate the figures to deceive». In this sense, he assures that figures are taken from the years in which the traffic fell due to the pandemic, when the reality is that it is 15% below the pre-pandemic figures. Fraile has wondered why the focus is put on a tourism sector «so minority» and also has decreased and has done so by an agreement signed with the Government to self-regulate on a voluntary basis.
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La entrada Port of Ibiza: more cruises scheduled but fewer passengers for 2025 se publicó primero en La Voz De Ibiza.
]]>La entrada Balearic Islands consolidates its position as leader in cruises: 584 ships dock at its ports until September se publicó primero en La Voz De Ibiza.
]]>General traffic growth
Overall passenger traffic in Spanish ports, which includes both cruise passengers and passengers in transport regime, has reached 31.9 million between January and September, registering an increase of 3.6% year-on-year. This growth shows that, despite the challenges and regulatory adjustments, the maritime sector continues to expand, consolidating Spain as a benchmark in cruise tourism at European level.
La entrada Balearic Islands consolidates its position as leader in cruises: 584 ships dock at its ports until September se publicó primero en La Voz De Ibiza.
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