Ten cruise ships which call at Malta regularly have been ranked as harmful to the environment, health and the climate in a report published today.

The ‘Cruise Ship Ranking 2017’ was published by German BirdLife partner NABU (The Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union).  

It ranks cruise ships in Europe according to their emissions and assesses pollution levels and environmental performance.  

NABU is one of the oldest and largest environment associations in Germany.

The ranking published today features 34 cruise ship operators using heavy fuel oil (HFO).  

The ten cruise ships that regularly visit Malta belong to the cruise lines AIDA, MSC, TUI and Viking. All rank in the worst category. Two of the ships fly the Maltese flag since they are registered in Malta. Valletta Cruise Port is their home port. 

In  2017 these ships will have visited Malta  65 times in total.

Only five of the 34 cruise liners in the ranking do not feature in the worst position based on their ecological performance.  

BirdLife Malta is currently part of a project run by NABU together with other
Mediterranean environmental NGOs working to raise awareness on air pollution
from ships.

The NGOs are seeking the setting up of an Emission Control Area (ECA) in the Mediterranean Sea to improve air quality by demanding that all ships use cleaner fuels.  

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