Maritime transport - marine-vectors.eu · Maritime transport Key points Overview V1: Feb 2013....
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Drivers of change Fact sheet series VECTORS Contact Project coordinator: Mel Austen Project manager: Jenny Lockett VECTORS Project Office Coordinated by Plymouth Marine Laboratory [email protected], www.marine-vectors.eu VECTORS Vectors of change in European Marine Ecosystems and their Environmental and Socio-Economic Impacts The VECTORS project seeks to develop integrated, multidisciplinary research-based understanding of changes taking place in our marine environment, the mechanisms for them and the ecological impacts expected from them. VECTORS will examine how these changes may affect the range of goods and services provided by the oceans, the ensuing socio-economic impacts and some of the measures that could be developed to reduce or adapt to these changes. Regional seas vectors and drivers This is a report which identifies and disseminates the current understanding of drivers, pressures and vectors of change that could be affecting the main areas of concern to VECTORS: outbreaks, invasives, changes in species distribution and productivity. The full 220 page report, created through a desktop review exercise, is available to download from the VECTORS website, www.marine-vectors.eu. A series of twelve fact sheets, including this one, have been produced to summarise the key findings for each of the nine drivers studied and each of the three Regional Seas (Western Mediterranean, North Sea and Baltic Sea) that act as case studies for the VECTORS project. » Almost 90% of the EU external freight trade is seaborne. Short sea shipping represents 40% of intra-EU exchanges in terms of ton- kilometres. Each year, more than 400 million passengers embark and disembark in European ports (EC, 2013). In 2010, SSS in Europe was close to 1.8 billion tonnes of freight and represented 62% of EU-27 maritime transport of goods. » The EC is promoting a new European intermodal maritime- based logistic system known as the “motorways of the sea”, a more efficient, inclusive and sustainable approach than currently possible for road transport. » Maritime transport is crucial for economic development but several environmental impacts are associated to this activity: the transfer of harmful aquatic organisms by ballast water and biofouling (for details see VECTORS Alien Species fact sheet and fact sheet Alien Species in the Baltic), gas emissions, oil pollution, sludge, sewage, garbage, transport of dangerous goods, antifouling coatings and underwater noise. » The BWM Convention has not yet entered into force. As reported by IMO as Summary of the Status of Conventions, 33 States constituting 26.46% of the gross tonnage have ratified the convention by 30 April 2012 (IMO, 2012). » In March 2010 the Biofouling Working Group resulted in the preparation of the 2011 Guidelines for the control and management of ships’ biofouling to minimise the transfer of invasive aquatic species. Almost 90% of the EU external freight trade is seaborne The total weight of goods handled in EU ports was 3.6 billion tonnes, with the Netherlands being the country that handled the largest volume (539 million tonnes), 15% of the EU-27 total. At a general level, port activity has grown in most EU countries, especially Poland, Estonia, Finland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden and Lithuania. Nevertheless, some countries such as Greece and Denmark, among others have decreased their activity. The top five largest maritime freight transport countries are Dutch ports (15% of the total tonnage), UK (14.1%), Italy (13.6%). The three largest EU ports for the handling of both containers and gross weight of goods still remain Rotterdam, Antwerp and Hamburg. Liquid bulk goods dominate maritime freight, representing 41% of the total tonnage of cargo (Dutch ports handled the largest tonnage with 265 million tonnes). Dry bulk goods represent 23%, large containers 19%, Ro-Ro Mobile Units (12%) and other cargo (6%). Shipping is a critical vector of transfer of non-indigenous and other harmful and potentially harmful species, such as potentially harmful cryptogenic algae and human pathogens. Ship mediated (ballast waters and hull fouling) species introductions per region according to the number of major ports or port regions (Gollasch, 2006) Maritime transport Key points Overview V1: Feb 2013
Transcript of Maritime transport - marine-vectors.eu · Maritime transport Key points Overview V1: Feb 2013....
Drivers of changeFact sheet series
VECTORS
Contact
Project coordinator: Mel Austen Project manager: Jenny Lockett
VECTORS Project Office
Coordinated by Plymouth Marine Laboratory [email protected], www.marine-vectors.eu
VECTORS
Vectors of change in European Marine Ecosystems and their Environmental
and Socio-Economic Impacts
The VECTORS project seeks to develop integrated, multidisciplinary research - based understanding of changes taking place in our marine environment, the mechanisms for them and the ecological impacts expected from them. VECTORS will examine how these changes may affect the range of goods and services provided by the oceans, the ensuing socio - economic impacts and some of the measures that could be developed to reduce or adapt to these changes.
Regional seas vectors and drivers
This is a report which identifies and disseminates the current understanding of drivers, pressures and vectors of change that could be affecting the main areas of concern to VECTORS: outbreaks, invasives, changes in species distribution and productivity.
The full 220 page report, created through a desktop review exercise, is available to download from the VECTORS website, www.marine-vectors.eu. A series of twelve fact sheets, including this one, have been produced to summarise the key findings for each of the nine drivers studied and each of the three Regional Seas (Western Mediterranean, North Sea and Baltic Sea) that act as case studies for the VECTORS project.
» Almost 90% of the EU external freight trade is seaborne. Short sea shipping represents 40% of intra-EU exchanges in terms of ton-kilometres. Each year, more than 400 million passengers embark and disembark in European ports (EC, 2013). In 2010, SSS in Europe was close to 1.8 billion tonnes of freight and represented 62% of EU-27 maritime transport of goods.
» The EC is promoting a new European intermodal maritime - based logistic system known as the “motorways of the sea”, a more efficient, inclusive and sustainable approach than currently possible for road transport.
» Maritime transport is crucial for economic development but several environmental impacts are associated to this activity: the transfer of harmful aquatic organisms by ballast water and biofouling (for details see VECTORS Alien Species fact sheet and fact sheet Alien Species in the Baltic), gas emissions, oil pollution, sludge, sewage, garbage, transport of dangerous goods, antifouling coatings and underwater noise.
» The BWM Convention has not yet entered into force. As reported by IMO as Summary of the Status of Conventions, 33 States constituting 26.46% of the gross tonnage have ratified the convention by 30 April 2012 (IMO, 2012).
» In March 2010 the Biofouling Working Group resulted in the preparation of the 2011 Guidelines for the control and management of ships’ biofouling to minimise the transfer of invasive aquatic species.
Almost 90% of the EU external freight trade is seaborne
The total weight of goods handled in EU ports was 3.6 billion tonnes, with the Netherlands being the country that handled the largest volume (539 million tonnes), 15% of the EU-27 total. At a general level, port activity has grown in most EU countries, especially Poland, Estonia, Finland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden and Lithuania. Nevertheless, some countries such as Greece and Denmark, among others have decreased their activity.
The top five largest maritime freight transport countries are Dutch ports (15% of the total tonnage), UK (14.1%), Italy (13.6%). The three largest EU ports for the handling of both containers and gross weight of goods still remain Rotterdam, Antwerp and Hamburg. Liquid bulk goods dominate maritime freight, representing 41% of the total tonnage of cargo (Dutch ports handled the largest tonnage with 265 million tonnes). Dry bulk goods represent 23%, large containers 19%, Ro-Ro Mobile Units (12%) and other cargo (6%). Shipping is a critical vector of transfer of non - indigenous and other harmful and potentially harmful species, such as potentially harmful cryptogenic algae and human pathogens.
Ship mediated (ballast waters and hull fouling) species introductions per region according to the number of major ports or port regions (Gollasch, 2006)
Maritime transport
Key points
Overview
V1: Feb 2013
VECTORSVECTORS is a European project (26455) supported within Themes 2, 5, 6 and 7 of the European Commission Seventh Framework Programme
Further informationThe leader for this driver and creator of this fact sheet is
Laia Piñol (LEITAT), with input from Lola Rodríguez (LEITAT) and Matej David (Univerza v Ljubljani).
External maritime transport in the Baltic moves through the Danish straits and the Kiel Canal, the busiest waterway in the world in terms of small and mid-sized container vessel traffic. About 2,000 ships can be found in the Baltic at any moment (around 3,500 to 5,000 each month). Approximately half of this fleet are cargo vessels, 17% are tankers and 11% passenger vessels (HELCOM, 2010). 15% of the world’s cargo transport is found in the Baltic Sea. 70 million tonnes of oil were shipped in 2008, expecting an increase of a 40% by 2015 (HELCOM, 2009).
More than 50,000 vessels annually pass the Skaw at the northernmost tip of Denmark on their way into or out of the Baltic (HELCOM, 2013). There are about 1,800 – 2,000 ships in the Baltic marine area at any given moment. Vessels with a draught less than 7 metres constitute the biggest part of the ships entering / leaving the Baltic via the Skaw. The Baltic Sea, together with the Black Sea and the Arctic Sea, is one of the sea basins with the most urgent environmental pressures due to shipping activities (DG Mare, 2012).
Cargo, tanker and passenger ship traffic on the Baltic Sea for two days in November 2008.
Baltic Sea
Cotteleer A. et al. 2009. Emissions 2009: Netherlands continental shelf, port areas and OSPAR region II. Report No. 24762-1-MSCN-rev.3, MARIN, Netherlands. DG Mare. 2012. Blue growth. Scenarios and drivers for Sustainable Growth from the Oceans, Seas and Coasts. Third Interim Report.EC. 2013. European Commission. http://ec.europa.eu/index_en.htm Gollasch S. 2006. Helgoland Marine Research, 60, 84-89.HELCOM. 2009. Ensuring safe shipping in the Baltic. HELCOM. 2010. BRISK: Sub-regional risk of spill of oil and hazardous
substances in the Baltic Sea. HELCOM. 2013. Latest statistics provided by the new HELCOM Automatic Identification System (AIS) for monitoring maritime traffic in the Baltic Sea area. http://www.helcom.fi/GIS/en_GB/HelcomGIS/IMO. 2012. http://www.imo.org/About/Conventions/StatusOfConventions/Pages/Default.aspxREMPEC. Protecting the Mediterranean against Maritime Accidents and Illegal Discharges from Ships, http://www.martrans.org/eu-mop/library/legal liability issues/rempec/rempec1.pdf
References
The North Sea has the main offshore-oil-extraction site in Europe, the greatest concentration of large European ports as well as Europe’s three biggest ports (Rotterdam – the largest European commercial port, Antwerp and Hamburg; EC, 2013). Even though their traffic is mainly international (especially containers and energy products), it is the main European Sea in relation to internal traffic (673 million tonnes in 2006); moreover, it is an important crossroads travelled by numerous ferry routes (2.6 million passengers in 2007).
Traffic links (left) and CO2 emissions (right: darker shading represents higher emissions) in OSPAR II Region by route bound ships (Cotteleer et al., 2009)
North Sea
The density of merchant vessels traffic in the Mediterranean is particularly high, even though it represents less than 1% of the total area covered by the world’s oceans. It is estimated that approximately 30% of the international sea-borne trade volume originates or is directed to the Mediterranean ports or passes through the Mediterranean Sea and that some 20 – 25% of the world’s sea - borne oil traffic transits the Mediterranean. Although the figures quoted below are estimates and might not be entirely accurate, they should serve to illustrate the density of maritime traffic in the region (REMPEC):
» 2,000 merchant vessels of over 100 GRT are at sea at any time; » 250 – 300 of these are oil tankers; » 200,000 merchant vessels of over 100 GRT cross the
Mediterranean annually.
According to the European Atlas of the Seas, container traffic is expanding with particular intensity in Spain (Algeciras), facing direct competition from Morocco. In relation to passenger transport, the main routes that link north and south are Spain-Morocco, France-Algeria and Italy-Tunisia. Greece transports 11.5 million passengers to the Greek islands every year, Italy 10.5 million to Sicily and 5 million to the Balearic islands (EC, 2013).
Western Mediterranean
Density of merchant vessels in the Mediterranean Sea.
