COVID-19 impact on maritime traffic and corresponding pollutant emissions. The case of the Port of Barcelona
The impact of the SARS-CoV pandemic has gone well beyond health concerns, reaching the maritime industry. The study on the environmental impact of shipping industry during COVID-19 pandemic can provide useful insights to propose new management policies regarding shipping operations, both in-port and...
| Autores: | , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2022 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) |
| Repositorio: | UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/365197 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/2117/365197 https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.114787 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020- Air pollution COVID-19 pandemic maritime traffic ports vessel emissions. Vaixells -- Contaminació Transport marítim -- Aspectes ambientals Port de Barcelona -- Aspectes ambientals Pandèmia de COVID-19, 2020- Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Nàutica::Seguretat marítima::Contaminació marina Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Nàutica::Impacte ambiental |
| Sumario: | The impact of the SARS-CoV pandemic has gone well beyond health concerns, reaching the maritime industry. The study on the environmental impact of shipping industry during COVID-19 pandemic can provide useful insights to propose new management policies regarding shipping operations, both in-port and on the route. We present a case study centred in the Port of Barcelona covering a 30 nautical miles range in the period March to July 2020, during which different levels of restrictions and stringent lockdown measures were enforced. In this paper, we assess the impact of COVID-19 on maritime traffic and its related emissions in port cities using real-time Automatic Identification System (AIS) data. Interestingly, results show that the decline in maritime traffic is not correlated with a decrease in maritime emissions due to changes in vessel operation. During lockdown (March to June 2020), we observed a 27.9% reduction in the number of port calls compared to the pre-lockdown scenario, whereas pollutant emissions show a moderate decrease (1.8% for CO2), no significant reduction (SO2 and PM) or a slight increase (1.3% for NOx). This can be directly assigned to changes in vessel operation mode, i.e. vessels switched from Underway to At Anchor or Moored status, during which auxiliary engines are used at higher loads. |
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