Marseille would also ban the most polluting cruise ships

As of Tuesday, 50,000 residents of France's second largest city have signed the initiative.
"We are suffocating in the Mediterranean Sea and in our ports. We feel, see, breathe the polluted air, and because of the heatwave, they are breaking peaks (the pollution values). Cruisers are littering, pouring smoke into our rivers with impunity, it cannot go on like this. So much pollution it's as if a million cars are going there," said the mayor of the city, which welcomed almost 2 million cruise passengers this year, in the news program of the French public television France2.

The purpose of the petition is to support the city administration's initiative to reduce marine pollution.
"We demand a change in international regulations, better protection of our seas and cities," wrote the municipality, which wants "strict and ambitious standards" to protect the Mediterranean Sea and the people living on the coast.

The signatories addressed the request to the International Maritime Organization, the agency of the United Nations (UN) specializing in maritime issues. This institution regulates the emissions of cruise ships.

"We ask the International Maritime Organization to speed up its decision on sulfur emissions," the petition reads.
The city of Marseille also addressed the French government and urged it to immediately start negotiations with the leaders of the states and cities along the Mediterranean Sea on the issue of nitrogen oxide emissions.

In February, Marseille already convened the decision-makers of the 24 major cities along the Mediterranean Sea, from Beirut to Tangier, in order to jointly create new environmental and health protection rules.

According to the city administration, while the air pollution in Marseille rises significantly during the heat waves, "the time has come for positive and quick action".

According to the daily newspaper Le Parisien, the defenders of cruises and the economy drew attention to the fact that MSC and Costa's state-of-the-art cruise ships powered by liquefied natural gas are less polluting and can also refuel in port.

(Source: autokalauz.co.hu; vakaciozzunk.co.hu; MTI | Image: pixabay.com)