(Please note that a of the report has been released on the 6th of March. The new version includes different numbers than those indicated below)A HELCOM released today provides information on port reception facilities for (PRFs) and their use by international cruise ships in the Baltic Sea area during 2014. Cruise ship visits per city and traffic density. Cruise ships operating in the Baltic Sea, their length of sea voyages as well as frequency and duration of port visits are described in detail. Also the ports visited by cruise ships and the sewage facilities are covered in terms of facilities and traffic trends. The report is based on information from obligatory AIS (Automatic Identification System) position reports received from a comprehensive list of cruise ships operating in the region. It provides thus a nearly complete coverage of cruise ship movements during 2014. Based on the analyses of ship movements, passenger capacity and port facilities, the new report helps also to clarify what the real needs of cruise traffic might be in terms of sewage management in the Baltic Sea cruise ports. Main findings:Around
77 different cruise ships owned by 37 operators sailed in the Baltic
Sea during the cruising season 2014. Half of these were smaller vessels
with a maximum capacity of 1,500 persons or less, including staff and
passengers. Eight vessels, or 10 %, were large vessels with a maximum
capacity of 4,000 persons or more.Five
main destinations – St. Petersburg, Copenhagen, Tallinn, Helsinki and
Stockholm – account for 67 % of the cruise ship traffic in terms of
calls. In total, cruise ships visited in 31 ports during 2014. Half of
the 31 ports had eleven or fewer visits, six only one visit. In three
ports, including Visby, large ships anchor outside the port and use
shuttle boat transportation to the shore. Voyages
between two ports lasted commonly between 8 and 20 hours at sea, and
the cruise ships stayed usually in port between 8-10 hours. The
international cruise ship voyages involved in total 6,55 million person
days, comparable to year-around habitation of 18 000 people. 80
% of the international cruise ship calls were intra-Baltic travels, or
calls where both the previous port visited and the current port are in
the Baltic Sea. There were 2,252 international cruise ship calls in
total.In a small
fraction of visits the ships travelled a long time at sea from previous
port, stopped for a short time and had a high maximum number of persons
on board. Such visits create challenges for ports if the assumption is
that all sewage is to be delivered in ports between voyages. 70
% of cruise ship visits in the region have a maximum sewage discharge
need of less than 42 m3 sewage per hour in port – if a daily sewage
production of 0,17 m3 per person and per day is assumed.> * * * Note for editors:The of HELCOM identifies and promotes actions to limit sea-based pollution and ways for safer navigation in the Baltic Sea. It also works to ensure enforcement and harmonized implementation of IMOs international shipping regulations in accordance to the 1992 Helsinki Convention.The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, usually referred to as , is an intergovernmental organization of the nine Baltic Sea coastal countries and the European Union working to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution and to ensure safety of navigation in the region. Since 1974, HELCOM has been the governing body of the ‘Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area’, more commonly known as the Helsinki Convention. * * * For more information, please contact:Hermanni Backer Professional Secretary for Maritime, Response and Maritime Spatial Planning HELCOM Tel: +358 46 850 9199 Skype: helcom02 E-mail: hermanni.backer(at)helcom.fi Johanna Laurila Information Secretary HELCOM Tel: +358 40 523 8988 Skype: helcom70 E-mail: johanna.laurila(at)helcom.fi
A HELCOM report released today provides information on sewage port reception facilities and their use by international cruise ships in the Baltic Sea area during 2014.
