Friends of the Earth protest against pollution from cruise ships

Members of environmental group Friends of the Earth were seen holding posters urging cruises ‘not to pollute’ and to turn their ‘engine off’ at Mayflower Park.

• Photos show $650million super-yacht on the water at Southampton Docks

In a bid to make cruise ship passengers aware of environmental issues, those at the protest - including two children - hit out at bosses urging them to stop running engines while parked at the dock.

The worldwide campaign against cruise ships was launched in Southampton by 61-year-old Cara Sandys.

She said: “The campaign has got to involve people from here as we have a cruise port.

“We want cruises to stop using engines to generate power as that would mean less pollution would come out, and instead plug into the National Grid.

“It is also more expensive to generate it from cheap fuel but ABP Southampton refuse to use better fuel.”

Friends of the Earth is a group which aims to raise awareness about environmental issues.

And while they have raised concerns about the pollution, they also said the pollution levels could lead to health implications.

As of Tuesday, air quality levels measured in Southampton, were low, according to the UK Air Quality website.

Cara added: “There have been huge spikes in nitrogen dioxide in April, which coincided with when cruise ships came back into port.

“We can’t prove it is coming from cruise ships, but spikes were the highest in April since August last year. Where was the pollution coming from if there was no road traffic?

“Pollution impairs people’s ability to breathe, we know Southampton has a bad reputation for asthma. Coronavirus could potentially be affected by the air quality here.”

A spokesperson for ABP Southampton said they do not regulate what fuel vessel owners use, and that shipping lines need to comply with regulations by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and International Maritime Organisation to minimise air pollution.