Cargo Ship Emissions

Authors Note: Number of ships on Earth.

**It has been estimated that only 7,000 cargo ships produce as much pollution as every car on Earth. This is 7,000 out of over 50,000 ships. That would mean, estimate, cargo ships Worldwide currently produce 7 times the automotive pollution produced in The World. This will increase dramatically in the very near future.

Source: Friends of the Earth

Link: http://www.foe.org/air-and-water/ship-emissions

 

Ship Air Pollution

As at 1st January 2008, the world trading fleet was made up of 50,525 ships, with a combined tonnage of 728,225,000 gross tonnes.

The amount of air pollution produced by ocean-going vessels is staggering.   A single cargo ship can produce as much air pollution as 350,000 cars in an hour.  These large, ocean-going ships operate on diesel engines the size of a single-family home, and most burn “bunker” fuel, which is cheap, but much more polluting than fuels used to power vehicles.  Bunker fuel contains high concentrations of toxic compounds banned from use in most other industrial and consumer applications.

As global trade increases, global shipping is expected to double within the next decade,   bringing shipping pollution to new highs.  EPA estimates that emissions from ocean-going vessels will double their contributions to the national mobile source inventory of sulfur oxides and quadruple particulate matter—both of which are major health threats.   According to EPA, by 2030 shipping is expected to grow nearly three-fold over 2000 levels.   This increased level of shipping not only degrades air quality, but also contributes to the acidification and eutrophication of waterways through deposition and carbon dioxide emissions.