Amsterdam Government Calls for Banning Ocean Cruise Ships by 2035

Cruise ships dock in the center of Amsterdam (Cruise Port Amsterdam)

As part of our Career Connect Washington Maritime Sector ongoing work, we actively track, document, and inform about emerging technologies and trends. After agreeing to limit and then relocate cruise ships out of the center of the Dutch city, members of Amsterdam’s coalition government, including the mayor and some aldermen, are now saying it would be more cost-effective to simply eliminate cruise ships. On Wednesday, January 21, they floated a plan to phase out all port calls by ocean-going cruise ships by 2035, while maintaining a smaller number of river cruise ship calls.

Concerns about pollution and overtourism have been growing in Amsterdam for nearly a decade. Cruise ships have typically berthed in the heart of the city, and as pointed out by industry officials, that makes them a more prominent target for critics. The environmental activists and now alderman in the coalition government are saying large cruise ships are highly polluting, emitting large amounts of CO2, particulate matter, and nitrogen. Of course, this ignores the EU’s low-sulfur fuel regulations and the cruise industry’s wide adoption of emission scrubbers even before the EU regulations mandating the use of shore power starting in 2030, at the EU’s main ports.

Go to this link to read the full article published by The Maritime Executive https://maritime-executive.com/article/amsterdam-government-calls-for-banning-ocean-cruise-ships-by-2035