Society and its leaders are increasingly aware of the need to fight climate change and CO2 emissions in the search for sustainability. Maritime transport and ports are important sources of pollution and, while industry and the rest of the large-scale emitters have achieved considerable reductions in this area, “shipping” is still not advancing at the same rate, falling behind in this race. The aim of this article is to underline the importance of an early implementation of On-Shore Power Supply (OPS), Cold Ironing (CI) or Alternative Marine Power (AMP) by making a study of potentially avoidable CO2 emissions from vessels docked (on the basis of the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] and ENTEC [Environmental Engineering Consultancy, an environmental and engineering consultancy in UK] methods) close to urban areas in the Port of Santander (Spain). It is the first time potential reductions have been calculated for the last 11 years (2011–2021), distinguishing yearly emissions per type of vessel and providing real information to port authorities to prioritize the installation of this technological basis for the operation of piers/terminals to optimize investments and outcomes. In this case study, results demonstrate the outcomes of ROROs, ferries, and cruises being the first target of OPS implementation (reaching total of 37.95% of total emitted tons of CO2 during the period of study). As a clear conclusion to this paper, the reader can understand the enormous and growing potential of this technology multiplied by the continuous development, increase and implementation of green energies.

At present, the sensitivity of society towards emissions in commercial maritime ports is increasing, which is reflected in the large number of studies on the control of emissions in them, perhaps because the most important commercial ports are located in cities with high population density. The objective of this work was to determine the greenhouse gas emissions caused by the activity of the Spanish tugboat fleet, studying the tugboat fleet of the eleven autonomous coastal Spanish communities from 2004 to 2017 and their impact on the carbon footprint of the country’s shipping sector. To do this, the methodology used by the International Maritime Organization for merchant ships to estimate the emissions of a tugboat fleet is formalized, and Gini concentration index methodology was applied to the concentration of emissions from this fleet. This has made it possible to obtain results on the distribution of the concentration of emissions from Spanish ports by region, age, and size, as well as to establish the profile of the tugboat port that pollutes the most and its carbon footprint. One of the results is that in the period analyzed, the concentration of emissions from the Spanish tugboat fleet increased if we looked at its distribution by region, and decreased if we look at its distribution by age and size. This is because tugboat activity was very different by region; however, their characteristics related to age and size evolved in a more homogeneous way.

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The safety of people working at sea is a subject on which many studies have been carried out. One of the current improvements that has been implemented is the possibility of assigning medical support assistance vessels during specific periods of time, whilst undergoing certain activities or peak seasons in the industry such as fishing seasons. This article proposes an aid system that will support decision making when determining the positioning of such vessels at configurable time intervals, thus shortening the emergency response time. Real data from the vessels, such as coordinates, number of crew, type of fishing gear, etc., are used to carry this out. With the scope of testing the system out, real data from the Spanish fishing fleet in the Bay of Biscay and the medical support assistance vessels available to the Spanish State have been used throughout different seasons. The results obtained convey the “standby” positions for these vessels. The following study of this comparative positioning enables us to calculate the differences between the coordinates calculated by the system and the real positions specified throughout the fishing season. The study also reviews the possibility of improving the emergency response time that would be gained, by increasing the number of medical support assistance vessels for the same area, during the same period.