Cruise Ship Emissions More Harmful Than Traffic, Study Finds — SkimNews
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- University of Southampton researchers spent more than two years sampling air at Southampton docks and found that ultrafine particles downwind of the cruise terminal carried a signature of vanadium, nickel, cobalt, and molybdenum — metals absent from road traffic emissions.
- Professor Matthew Loxham, the project leader, said the ultrafine vanadium-rich particles were more able to drive donated human lung cells to release inflammation signals and reduce their ability to block virus replication, with further tests pinning the effect specifically on vanadium.
- Heavy fuel oil is the source of the vanadium: Loxham explained that the metal naturally concentrates into heavy fuel during refining and vaporises into ship exhaust when burned.
- Dr Nat Easton said she was surprised by how much more vanadium and nickel appeared in cruise ship-associated particles than container ship-associated ones, noting that cruise ships keep engines running at berth for heating, hot water, lighting, and cooking — something cargo ships do not do.
- Associated British Ports said Southampton was the first UK port to introduce large-scale shore power connections, with about 15% of cruise ships using them at berth, and voiced concerns about aspects of the study's methodology.
- Easton flagged that neither ultrafine particles nor their chemical composition are routinely monitored; a new EU directive will require such measurements around ports and airports, but it does not apply in the UK.
Why it matters: More than 2.5 million cruise passengers passed through Southampton in 2025, and a city of 260,000 people lives downwind of a port where neither ultrafine particles nor vanadium are routinely monitored — leaving regulators blind to a pollutant class the EU will now track. Only about 15% of cruise ships at Southampton use the shore power that lets engines shut off at berth, meaning the vast majority continue burning heavy fuel oil alongside passengers.
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