Americas News
Port's Reduction in Emissions of SOx Dismissed as "Old News"
A study released by the Ministry of Environment in British Columbia, Canada, which found that sulfur emission regulations and the use of abatement technology have been effective in reducing emissions of sulfur dioxides (SOx) from cruise ships at Victoria's James Bay, has been dismissed as "old news" by a citizens group, local media reports.
"This report is good news, but it's old news. And while it's the end of sulfur dioxide, it's not really the end of pollution from the ships," said Marg Gardiner, president of the James Bay Neighbourhood Association, noting: "there's other emissions other than sulfur dioxide coming out of that [cruise ship smoke] stack."
The report was prepared by Eleanor Setton, a geographer at the University of Victoria, and funded by the ministry and the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority (GVHA).
It compared SOx levels in 2014 and 2015, when the North American Emissions Control Area (ECA) 1.0 percent and 0.1 percent sulfur caps were in effect respectively, and also with those of 2009 when only the 3.5 percent global sulfur cap applied.
The report says that there were 11 hours during 2014 when SOx levels were "moderate" according to Island Health's category system, and a total of three within the "unhealthy for sensitive groups" category.
Meanwhile, all hours in 2015 were found to have been within the "good" category.
"There's still an emission issue, whether it's a health issue or not we don't know, and there's still particulate matter that's an issue," said Gardiner.
Gardiner suggests that action to further reduce pollution from cruise ships could include changing ship schedules in order to ensure vessels stay longer using shore power, or encourage ships to switch to liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkers.
The group says it has also received more complaints related to cruise ship emissions this year, compared to the last two years, but notes this increase could be attributed to new residents of the area, rather than an increase in cruise ship activity.
In June, Ship & Bunker reported that GVHA was considering the installation of shore power at its Ogden Point cruise ship terminal.
