In the port of Marseille, there are sailors singing, and cruise ships smoking.
The mayor (Printemps marseillais, left), Benoît Payan, has embarked on a crusade against the behemoths of the seas which, according to him, “
dirty, [and] spit their smoke on our shores with complete impunity”.
On July 21, he published a petition asking for the most polluting boats to be banned from the port of Marseille on days when pollution peaks.
It has since collected 48,000 signatures.
Faced with the reproaches of the town hall, Erminio Eschena, president of CLIA France, international association of cruise companies, wants to play the appeasement and recalls the efforts already conceded by the sector.
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Read alsoCruise ship pollution: understand everything about the bone of contention that agitates Marseille
LE FIGARO. - How did you welcome the petition launched by the mayor of Marseille on July 19?
Erminio ESCHENA
.
- This initiative surprised us because it was not the result of prior consultation either with us or with the port authorities, the region or the State.
This does not make it possible to consolidate a common vision and support the efforts already made.
CLIA's job is precisely to maintain ongoing consultation with public authorities.
This is, for example, what allowed the creation of the ECA zone (
Emission control area, Editor
's note ), which should come into force in 2025 to regulate polluting emissions in the Mediterranean.
The mayor calls for a ban on stopovers for the most polluting ships during pollution peaks. Is it feasible?
The industry is already in working order to implement the environmental objectives decided in consultation with the public authorities and with the International Maritime Organization.
Furthermore, the number of stopovers made by cruise ships in Marseille must be put into perspective.
Cruise ships represent less than 5% of stopovers recorded: the port of Marseille declares 9,000 stopovers per year for all types of ships, while in 2019 there were nearly 440 cruise ship stopovers.
Erminio Eschena, President of CLIA France.
CLIA France / Photo press
Why, then, is the ire of the Marseillais concentrated on cruise ships?
Perhaps because they are more easily identifiable.
We can also think that they are less essential, because they come under the domain of leisure.
It all depends on the model of society you want.
Society today is built around leisure, and Western man has a fundamental right to vacation.
Of course, tourism can evolve.
And cruising clearly demonstrates its ability to adapt.
Can't we do more?
The efforts made already make it possible to go faster and differently.
On electrification for example.
Shipowners decided to equip their boats with equipment to receive electricity at the quay, even though many ports were not yet equipped to do so.
The municipality of Marseille has also announced that it will contribute 10 million euros to the installation of such equipment in its port as part of the “Escales zero smoke” plan, and we are delighted about this.
But all this is only transitory.
There will be other innovations, other technologies that will continue to improve the boats.
Several projects are already in development: sailing liners, fuel cells, improved recycling on board, liquefied natural gas... Admittedly,
we have to go even faster.
It is still necessary to go in a common and attainable direction.
Otherwise, we remain in the declarative.
Beyond the battle of numbers, I think that systematically looking for a bad student is not the best way to promote the transition.
Erminio Eschena, President of CLIA France
Do boats pollute
"
as much as a million cars
"
, as the mayor asserts?
This statement has no scientific basis and does not correspond to the data provided by NGOs.
Yet it had its effect… Beyond the battle of figures, I think that systematically looking for a bad student is not the most appropriate way to promote the transition.
How can we best support this transition?
Sitting around a table, setting a context, agreeing on an objective and identifying the means to achieve it is what can allow us to achieve it together.
We are doing it today with the State and the region, and we are completely ready to do it with the town hall of Marseille.
At the moment there is no dialogue.
Or rather, there is a dialogue of the deaf.
But no matter how it was initiated, you have to seize the opportunity and exchange.
Do you think green cruises will be possible one day?
It all depends on what you mean by “green”.
All human activity has an impact.
It is up to us to ensure that this activity is increasingly virtuous.
Do cruises have a limited economic impact on the territory,
as asserted by Laurent Lhardit, Marseille deputy in charge of tourism
?
The studies that have been carried out in Marseille show that the economic impact is significant and trickles down throughout the territory.
We know that one out of two cruise passengers returns later to the territory visited during their cruise, to enjoy it longer.
We allow tourists to taste a territory.
Afterwards, it is up to the local tourist actors to make sure that these tourists feel good there.
The cruise cannot do this alone.
We have to work together so that the reception of tourists goes as smoothly as possible.