HELCOM has released a of the HELCOM Overview on Baltic Sea Sewage Port Reception Facilities 2014. The report provides information on port reception facilities for sewage as well as their use by international cruise ships in the Baltic Sea area.Based on the analyses of ship movements, passenger capacity and port facilities, the report also helps to clarify what the real needs of cruise traffic might be in terms of sewage management in the Baltic Sea cruise ports.Cruise ship calls – updated figures. The new version includes additional information and builds on the feedback received after the>first release on 4th of February 2015.>>Additional cruise ships have been included to the list of ships used in the analysis based on Automatic identification System (AIS) data, information on port facilities have been updated and also other changes have been made. The revisions are based on the new information received from ports and administrations of Denmark, Finland, Latvia, Russian Federation and Sweden.The second edition can be downloaded from .> The overview report has identical, user-friendly spreads of 33 ports in the Baltic
Sea, including locator maps.Main findings:79 different cruise ships owned by 42 operators sailed in the Baltic Sea during the 2014 cruising season. Half of these were smaller vessels with a maximum capacity of 1,500 persons or less, including staff and passengers. Six vessels, or 7,6%, 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 65 % of the cruise ship traffic in terms of calls. In total, cruise ships visited in 33 ports during 2014. Nearly half of the 33 ports had eleven or fewer visits, five only one visit. In four 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 7,15 million person days, comparable to year-around habitation of 19 600 people.88 % 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 2,125 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. 60 % 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>
The new version includes additional information and builds on the feedback received after the first release on 4th of February 2015.
