Carbon footprint of overnight ferries

[Krokodil]

I'm currently sat in the bar of the Viking Glory, listening to a talented pianist play "What a Wonderful World", travelling from Stockholm to Turku. Casting an eye around the beautiful facilities on this ship, I'm wondering what the carbon footprint of my journey is.

The emissions for a foot passenger on a ferry seem to be around 20g per passenger km. That's a massive improvement upon flying. However I suspect that this figure is for short routes like Dover-Calais or Holyhead-Dublin. I'm not just occupying deck space, as it's an overnight ferry I'll be in a small cabin.

Cruise ships are notorious polluters, being five star hotels on water. 250g+ brings them into the same leagues as flying. But this "cruiseferry" has no swimming pool or ice rink. It's still just a ferry, with some better decor and cabins for the overnight voyage. So where on the scale between 20g and 250g does it sit?

 

[signed]

So where on the scale between 20g and 250g does it sit?

There is a website (I am not affiliated, nor can I guarentee its neutrality) that can give you the data

Calculateur d'empreinte carbone du ferry

Découvrez une estimation de l'empreinte climat du ferry en fonction de votre voyage et des options de votre traversée. Depuis quelques années, pour de plus en plus de personnes l'avion a bien été identifié comme un moyen de transport polluant. Vous pouvez calculer l'empreinte climat d'un vol...

futur.eco

Calculateur d'empreinte carbone du ferry​

Découvrez une estimation de l'empreinte climat du ferry en fonction de votre voyage et des options de votre traversée.

Carbon ferry footprint calculator

Discover an estimate of the ferry's climate footprint based on your trip and the options for your journey.

There is a great writeup however on the data methodology (in French) based on EU law data

Modèle d'empreinte climat d'un ferry - HackMD

Le problème : estimer l’empreinte climat (ou l’empreinte carbone, ou le CO2 e) d’un passager sur les Ferries qui relient la métropole à la Corse et à l’Angleterre.

hackmd.io

Le Ferry est une alternative sérieuse à l'avion, mais il n'existe aujourd'hui aucun facteur d'émission en CO2e (ni ADEME, ni à l'international, ni dans la littérature scientifique) qui prenne en compte les paramètres suivants :

• passager en voiture ou non, en cabine, en siège, ou au sol
• équipement loisir du bateau : restaurant, bar, piscine, grand couloirs, etc.
• tonnage fret éventuellement
• % de remplissage du bateau
• vitesse, etc.

Ferry is a serious alternative to aircraft, but today there is no CO2e emission factor (neither ADEME, neither internationally nor in the scientific literature) takes into account the following parameters:


passenger in or without car, cabin, seat or ground
Holiday equipment: restaurant, bar, swimming pool, large corridors, etc.
volume of freight, if any
% of vessel filling
speed, etc.

 

[AlastairFraser]

I'm currently sat in the bar of the Viking Glory, listening to a talented pianist play "What a Wonderful World", travelling from Stockholm to Turku. Casting an eye around the beautiful facilities on this ship, I'm wondering what the carbon footprint of my journey is.

The emissions for a foot passenger on a ferry seem to be around 20g per passenger km. That's a massive improvement upon flying. However I suspect that this figure is for short routes like Dover-Calais or Holyhead-Dublin. I'm not just occupying deck space, as it's an overnight ferry I'll be in a small cabin.

Cruise ships are notorious polluters, being five star hotels on water. 250g+ brings them into the same leagues as flying. But this "cruiseferry" has no swimming pool or ice rink. It's still just a ferry, with some better decor and cabins for the overnight voyage. So where on the scale between 20g and 250g does it sit?

Page 26 of the Viking Line 2024 sustainability report (https://www.vikingline.com/globalas...ronment/sustainability-2024-vikingline-en.pdf) suggests that they trialled biogas for a week, instead of the normal LNG and it cut down emissions by 90 percent (which it says cut emissions by 2600 tons per week), and that would make normal emissions around 2880 tons per week.

Apparently they operate 14 return sailings per week, so that would be nearly 206 tons per sailing if my calculations are right. That would make a single leg Stockholm - Aland - Turku approx. 103 tons.
103 tons.
It's about 300 km distance Stockholm-Aland-Turku, so that would make it approx. 343,333 grams per km. Per passenger km depends on the load factor - at peak capacity (apparently 2800 passengers), it would be around 122 grams per passenger km, at 2000 passengers, it would be around 171 grams per passenger km.
If you're just a foot passenger, I probably need to revise that figure down a bit (because of the vehicle capacity skewing the figure).
But at peak capacity, I'd estimate somewhere around 90-100 grams per passenger km, perhaps 140-150 grams per passenger km for a load factor somewhere in the order of 1500-2000 passengers onboard.
Not a professional calculation by any means, but hope you find this interesting!

 

[Krokodil]

Thanks both, it's clearly a can of worms!

 

[AlastairFraser]

Thanks both, it's clearly a can of worms!

Very much so!