A dozen inflatable activists in kayaks from the environmental groups Extinction Rebellion and Stop cruises arrived to block the southern port of Marseille for two hours, from 7 to 9 on Saturday France from approaching cruise ships. French Coast Guard vessels seized the boats of activists who had mainly protested about the air pollution caused by the “giants of the sea”.
At least three cruise ships and a ferry arriving from Corsica were prevented from “arresting” at a port, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP). At 7 am the “Aidastella” of the German cruise company Aida approached with about 2,000 people on board. A dozen canoes and kayaks with activists blocked the northern lights forcing the ship to turn around.
Two other cruise ships were forced to do the same. Costa Smeralda and MSC World Europa, the sixth largest cruise ship in the world that can carry 6,000 tourists and has more than 2,600 cabins, 13 restaurants and a shopping mall.
The three cruise ships and the ferry from Corsica waited until 9.30 for the port activists to expel them and for the port of the second city to reopen to the residents of the French city and one of the largest in the Mediterranean , now not only for container traffic but also for tourist traffic.
In recent years Marseille has become a top destination for Mediterranean cruise ships. According to the Tourism Observatory of the city, in 2022 (the first year that mass cruises were organized after the Covid-19 pandemic) it received 1.5 million cruise ship passengers, while last year it received 2.5 million tourists.
“We are very angry”
Inside their kayaks, about two dozen activists wearing life jackets held up banners reading “Smells Carbon Dioxide” and “We are very angry with MSC Cruises”. Stop Cruises complains about the air pollution caused by these “huge ships, which look like real cities on the water”. The organization also criticized the working conditions prevailing on MSC Cruises ships.
A spokesman for Stop Cruises said “the impact of cruise ships on human health and marine biodiversity is disproportionately large for the services they provide”.
Research carried out by AtmoSud, the Atmospheric Quality Observatory of the provinces of Provence, Alpes and Cote d’Azur, concluded that maritime and transport activities centered on the port of Marseille are responsible for 39% of nitrogen dioxide emissions in the second of the population of a city in France, while road traffic is responsible for 45% of the emissions of this pollutant.
Cruise targeting
There is no doubt that sailing is a source of income for many European seaside towns. However, the industry is increasingly targeted because it is considered harmful to the health of residents of the ports approached by ships and the wider environment.
According to a study by the Non-Governmental Organization Transport and Environment, cruise ships sailing in European waters in 2022 will emit more than 8 million tons of carbon dioxide, an amount equivalent to the pollution of 50,000 flights in Paris. -New York route, as written by “Le Figaro”.
In recent years the municipal authorities of Venice and Amsterdam have placed restrictions on the floating giants that take tourists on and off. In particular, the Amsterdam authorities, in the context of adopting a “sustainable tourism economy, have decided to limit from 2026 the number of cruise ships that will approach the port of the city.
On August 18 last year, Extinction Rebellion, founded in 2018 in Britain, blocked the approach of the giant cruise ship “Serenade of the Seas” to the port of Amsterdam for several hours. “Serenade of the Seas” has 1,000 passenger cabins.