Ship emissions and their externalities at the container terminal of piraeus - Greece

Abstract

Ship exhaust emission inventories and their associated externalities constitute valuable information resources towards policy making and management of the influence exerted by shipping on air quality. To this extent, the container terminal at the Greek Port of Piraeus by virtue of its shipping significance and its urbanised character was selected in order to provide an estimation of the emissions produced by the ship activity within the terminal and to monetarise their adverse effects upon the environment and the local population in particular. With reference to the year 2006, the relevant annual emission inventory generated during in-port ship manoeuvring and at berth was found to be equal to 16,104 tons, divided into 294, 264, 15,504, 16.5 and 26.4 tons of NOx, SO2, CO2, HC and PM, respectively. The overall damage of these emissions was estimated to be around 7.5 million euro, comprised by 2.15, 3.35, 0.6, 0.003 and 1.35 million euro of NOx, SO2, CO2, HC and PM, respectively. The findings of this work, along with similar studies recently conducted in neighbouring locations, provide useful information towards the completion of a detailed and accurate picture of ship exhaust emissions and their externalities within the region of the eastern Mediterranean.