eea flag

Maritime transport is large scale activity affecting the marine environment. Main activities impacting environment is construction and operation of ports with cargo handling, warehousing and storage infrastructure and shipping.

In the EU-27, port activities generated a GVA of EUR 29.5 billion and employed over 409 thousand people in 2021(Table 1).

Table 1: EU coastal and aritime activities – Port activities: number of people employed, Gross Value Added (GVA), past trends (2008-2021) and expected trends (2022-2024).

Maritime transport, including freight and passenger transport activities, generated EUR 44.3 billion in GVA and employed almost 380 thousand people (Table 2).

Table 2: EU coastal and maritime activities – Maritime transport: number of people employed, Gross Value Added (GVA), past trends (2008-2021) and expected trends (2022-2024).

Shipbuilding and repairs further generated EUR 18 billion in GVA and almost 312 thousand jobs in 2021 (Table 3).
The EU shipbuilding industry counts with approximately 300 shipyards and is the top producer of cruise ships in the world, and one of the leading players for high-tech, complex vessel types.

Table 3: EU coastal and maritime activities – Shipbuilding and repair: number of people employed, Gross Value Added (GVA), past trends (2008-2021) and expected trends (2022-2024).

While vital for economic and social wellbeing, the maritime transport sector puts pressure on the marine ecosystem. The construction and modification of ports can cause physical loss of coastal habitats, as land reclamation and land use can seal or smother/ destroy coastal habitats. The operation and maintenance of ships can introduce antifouling paints, marine litter and other emissions into marine ecosystems, and can produce low frequency underwater noise and emit air pollutants, such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides and particulate matter. Maritime transport can cause biological pressure by, for example, introducing non-indigenous species.

Although it is the most energy-efficient mode of transport, Maritime transport accounts for about 2 to 3% of global energy-related CO2 emissions. Given the growth prospects of the sector, it is indispensable that the industry continues to reduce its environmental impact (European Commission, 2023).

Read more on these activities

Pressures on the marine environment

Transport in the marine environment puts numerous pressures on the marine environment including:

  • Hydrographical conditions can be changed locally due to construction in coastal waters; large scale changes can be a consequence of large infrastructure projects.
  • Contamination can be caused during regular port operations as consequence of runoff or point emissions from storage facilities and other industrial activities in the port area; major concern in planning of port facilities are incidental spills of hazardous substances. Main concern of shipping are incidental spills in the open sea, since they can cause major harm to marine ecosystem.
  • Underwater noise is emitted from port facilities during regular activities; noise is also emitted from ships, along the shipping lanes.
  • Non-indigenous species can be transferred by ships; alien species can attach themselves to the hull of the ship or can be transported by ballast waters.
  • Marine Litter can be illegally dumped from ships; litter can also be emitted from port activities.

References

  1. European Commission, Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Joint Research Centre, Borriello, A., Calvo Santos, A., Codina López, L. et al., The EU blue economy report 2024, Publications Office of the European Union, 2024, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2771/186064
    a b c
  2. ECA, 2016, Maritime transport in the EU: in troubled waters- much ineffective and unsustainable investment, Special Report No 23, European Court of Auditors, Luxembourg (https://www.eca.europa.eu/Lists/ ECADocuments/SR16_23/SR_MARITIME_EN.pdf).
    ↵
  3. EEA, 2016, 'Transport in Europe: key facts and trends', European Environment Agency (https://www.eea. europa.eu/signals/signals-2016/articles/transport-in-europe-key-facts-trends) accessed 20 August 2019.
    ↵
  4. EEA, 2019. Marine Messages II. Navigating the course towards clean, healthy and productive seas through implementation of an ecosystem-based approach. European Environment Agency, EEA Report, 17/2019: 82 pp.
    a b c d e
  5. Eurostat, 2019a, 'Gross weight of goods handled in all ports by direction — annual data', Eurostat (http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show).
    ↵
  6. Eurostat, 2019b, 'Passengers embarked and disembarked in all ports by direction — annual data', Eurostat (http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/ show.do?dataset=mar_pa_aa&lang=en).
    ↵
  7. EC, 1999, Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions — the development of short sea shipping in Europe: a dynamic alternative in a sustainable transport chain — second two-yearly progress report (COM/99/0317 final).
    ↵
  8. EC, 2015, Analysis of recent trends in EU shipping and analysis and policy support to improve the competitiveness of short sea shipping in the EU: final report, European Commission Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, Brussels (https://ec.europa.eu/transport/ sites/transport/files/modes/maritime/studies/doc/2015-june-study-sss-final.pdf) accessed 14 June 2019.
    a b
  9. Eurostat, 2019c, 'Short sea shipping — country level — gross weight of goods transported to/from main ports, by direction', Eurostat (http://appsso.eurostat. ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=mar_sg_am_ cwd&lang=en).
    ↵
  10. Boteler, B., Grüniga, M., Lago, M., Iglesias-Campos, A., Reker, J and Meiner, A., 2012, 'European maritime transport and port activities: identifying policy gaps towards reducing environmental impacts of socio-economic activities', Ecologic Institute, Berlin (https://www. ecologic.eu/sites/files/presentation/2014/european-maritime-transport-and-port-activities_0.pdf).
    a b
  11. Oral, N., FraNçois, S., 2008, Maritime traffic effects on biodiversity in the Mediterranean Sea, International Union for Conservation of Nature, Gland, Switzerland and Malaga, Spain. 136 pp.
    ↵
  12. HELCOM, 2010, Maritime Activities in the Baltic Sea — An integrated thematic assessment on maritime activities and response to pollution at sea in the Baltic Sea Region. (http://www.HELCOM.fi/Lists/Publications/BSEP123. pdf).
    ↵
  13. Viana, M., Hammingh, P., Colette, A., Querol, X., Degraeuwe, B., Vlieger, I., Aardenne, J., 2014, 'Impact of maritime transport emissions on coastal air quality in Europe', Atmospheric Environment 90, pp. 96-105 (DOI: 10.1016/j. atmosenv.2014.03.046).
    ↵
  14. Piet, G., Jongbloed, RH., Pijmans, A., 2011, Options for delivering ecosystem-based marine management. Identification and management of the main human activities that compromise the operational objectives, ODEMM work package 4 milestones, ODEMM (https://www.researchgate. net/publication/275946785_Options_for_delivering_ Ecoystem-based_Marine_Mangament_Identification_ and_management_of_the_main_human_activities_that_ compromise_the_operational_objectives) accessed 14 June 2019.
    ↵
  15. EEA, 2015, State of Europe's seas, EEA Report No 2/2015, European Environment Agency (http://www. eea.europa.eu/publications/state-of-europes-seas) accessed 21 August 2019.
    ↵