Abstract

GIUSTO, Anabella; APRIGLIANO, Natalia Florencia; CARAMELLINO, Paula  and  ALMADA, Pablo Sebastián. Study of the possible impact of cruise ships on water quality of the Port Buenos Aires, Argentina. Rev. Int. Contam. Ambient [online]. 2023, vol.39, 54732.  Epub Nov 10, 2023. ISSN 0188-4999.  https://doi.org/10.20937/rica.54732.

Water quality in ports can be affected by contamination from land and/or water. Cruise ships are floating cities with capacity for more than 5000 people, generating a large amount of wastewater. Cruise vessels have internationally regulated treatment plants, with different discharge quality standards. The aims of the current study were to evaluate the characteristics of cruise ships, their treatment plants and their possible impact on the water quality of the Port Buenos Aires, Argentina. Eight samplings were carried out between October 2018 and March 2019 in docks A, B and C, as well as in the Río de la Plata (RDP). In addition, information was collected from the cruise ships moored at the time of the sampling. Twenty-one cruise ships were registered, transporting more than 57 000 people. Dock B was the one that received the largest number of cruise ships (11) and passengers (39 562). The 90.5 % of the cruise ships comply with the MEPC.2 (VI) treatment regulations, 9.5 % with the MEPC.159 (55) and none with the MEPC.227 (64), the most restrictive. This might be related to the fact that the fleet that operates in this zone of South America is older than the one that operates in special zones with stricter legislation. Significant differences were observed between the quality of port water and the RDP, however, there is no evidence of a direct effect from the cruises. For future research, it is recommended to characterize the effluents from the treatment plants and their possible effect on the port water.

Keywords : wastewater; passenger ships; treatment plants; MARPOL Annex IV; water pollution.