Abstract
Maritime shipping has been a major facilitator of economic prosperity throughout the world and it is likely to grow to meet continued and growing transport needs in both developed and developing countries. However, global emissions from maritime shipping have increased considerably, causing depletion of the ozone layer and most importantly posing threat to lives and coastal environment through air pollution. This study investigated the constituents of ambient air in Onne port’s environment in Rivers State of Nigeria. Six air pollutants (O3 CO, NO2, PM2.5, PM10, and SO2) were critically monitored with hand-held mobile Aeroqual gas monitors, series 500, at strategic locations within the port’s environment and Eleme Junction (the control). We found that mean concentrations (μg·m3) of the following pollutants: O3 (71.776 ± 0.726), CO, (19.145 ± 0.275) NO2 (28.145 ± 0.965) and SO2 (36.913 ± 0.378) were significantly high. The particulates (PM10, PM2.5) also showed higher mean concentrations of 48.400 ± 0.197 and 29.676 ± 0.352 respectively. The observed values were found to be significantly higher than those observed in the control group and also exceeded the safe permissible limits for gaseous pollutants when compared to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) standards. This exceedance raises questions on Nigeria’s commitments to implementations of (Annex VI) International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Convention for the Prevention of Marine Pollution (MARPOL 73/78) from Ships. Again, the findings portend ecological hazards to residents, flora and fauna as elevated levels of these gaseous pollutants have been associated with chronic respiratory diseases. The policy implications of the findings were discussed.
Highlights
Increasing demand for seaborne transport has given rise to increased shipping activities globally (UNCTAD [1])
International Maritime Organization (IMO) consolidated these efforts with further amendments to Annex VI of MARPOL 73/78 which require all new-build ships to comply with the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI), and for all new and existing ships to have a ship specific Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP), targeting ship operational energy efficiency (IMO, [9])
We investigate the constituents of air pollution in port environment and relate results with traffic activity levels especially the following: volume of shipping and land transport activity levels within the port
Summary
Increasing demand for seaborne transport has given rise to increased shipping activities globally (UNCTAD [1]). The International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) greenhouse gases (GHGs) emission study (for the year 2012) found significant percentages of CO2 (796 million tonnes) and 816 million combined tonnes of CO2, CH4 and N2O emissions arising from international shipping operations (Smith et al, [8]). Concerned with these ship-fossil fuel emissions and impacts on climate change, The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held at Rio de Janeiro in 1992 advocated for use of alternative energy sources to replace the use of fossil fuels. The results should serve as basis for designing administrative measures to reduce the level of air pollutants emissions at the ports
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