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operator, Royal Caribbean Cruises, emits four times as much SOx as the European car fleet.
In the report, T&E recommends a zero- emission berth standard for all European ports, and “extra stringent” air pollution standards for cruise ships.
In absolute terms, the Spanish coast
is the most exposed to cruise ship air pollution, receiving about about 15 kt of SOx a year, and the Spanish city of Barcelona received the heaviest load of Sox pollution of any city studied.
However, among continental European nations, Croatia is the worst affected rela- tive to the country’s car emissions; cruise ship emissions were 189.6 times as high as those from cars. Three Croatian cities are among the top 50 cruise polluted cit- ies in Europe: Rijeka (where cruise ships cause 12.3 times as much SOx pollution as passenger cars), Dubrovnik (19.2 times) and Split (4.8 times).
Other small Adriatic countries have a similarly disproportionate polluting impact from cruise ships, which account for 147.7 times the amount SOx emis- sions from passenger cars in Albania and
135.6 times in Montenegro. It’s a similar picture in Greece, Malta and Norway. Relative to car emissions, the worst affected overall was Iceland, where cruiser emissions exceeded passenger car emissions by 337.4 times.
Emissions of NOx are generally smaller than those from passenger vehicles, amounting to around 15% of total NOx emissions from Europe’s passenger
car fleet. However, this isn’t true of all countries: in both Norway and Croatia cruise ships emit more than the entire domestic passenger car fleet – 144% and 111% respectively. In absolute terms, the highest levels of NOx emissions are along the Spanish and Italian coasts.
Turning against tourism
Pollution from huge cruise ships, cou- pled with worries about over-tourism in the centres of cities such as Rijeka, Split and especially Dubrovnik, have sparked a backlash in Croatia, even though the country depends on tourism for a sub- stantial share of its GDP.
Dubrovnik mayor Mato Frankovic announced in December 2018 that the city was limiting the number of cruise ships allowed to dock to two per day
with no more than 5,000 passengers between them. Long a popular destina- tion for cruise ships, the city’s historic walled centre has been in danger of being overwhelmed by tourists, and received a further boost to its profile – and consequent hike in tourist numbers – as one of the locations in the HBO hit series Game of Thrones.
Secret Dalmatia, an award winning tour company in Croatia, has now taken a stand on the issue, despite a potential loss of custom.
“The consequences of cruise ship tour- ism in Croatia are becoming increasingly evident by the day. From crowds taking over the fragile World Heritage cities like Dubrovnik, to the local living suffering under the burden of thousands coming in at the same time, to the threats cruise ship pollution poses to our Adriatic Sea,” the company said on its Facebook page.
“As promoters, but primarily protectors of the Croatian heritage and environ- ment, we have decided to forgo all types of cruise ship business in the future.
... We strongly believe that it is us who benefit from Croatia’s beauty must be its front line of defence from overuse.”
Eager shoppers queue up outside Primark’s first CEE store in Ljubljana
bne IntelliNews
Thousands of shoppers queued to enter fast fashion giant Primark’s first store in Slovenia, which opened on June 13 in the Citypark mall in the capital Ljubljana.
The opening in Ljubljana marks the long- awaited entry of Primark, whose fast fashion designer inspired clothes earned it the name "Primarni", to the Central and Eastern European (CEE) market.
Citypark’s operator SES Spar European Shopping Centers said the mall had been
completely renovated around its new anchor tenant, with the refurbishment costing €20mn.
It reported “thousands of enthusiastic customers” turning up for the opening of the Ireland-based retailer, and fore- cast that “Primark will enable Citypark to further bolster the city of Ljubljana as a shopping destination.”
"The launch of Primark at CITYPARK Ljubljana has once again allowed us to introduce one of the world's most suc-
cessful textile retailers to the country. When the first Primark opened in Austria at SILLPARK Innsbruck in 2012, we recognised the power of the brand's magnetism on fashion enthusiasts as well as its tremendous appeal" said SES CEO Marcus Wild in a statement.
The Ljubljana store brings the total num- ber of Primark stores to 372 in 12 coun- tries, most of them in western Europe.
However, the fast fashion retailer plans further eastward expansion, having
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