Such a pure nonsense of an article. For a start, cars are used in urban environments. For the most part, these ships are out at sea where pollution does not cause the same issues. These ships are running 24/7, cars tend to do about two hours work per day at most and finally, container ships carry thousands of tonnes of goods. Cars are mainly carrying a driver and nobody else!
Greenies really annoy me when they do not compare like with like.
That article has been written by exactly the type of person that has everyone the way they are about 'green' issues.
Uneducated nonsense.
There are strict regulations in force for all ships that requires low sulphur levels in their fuel and all engines fitted after 1990 have strict Nox emission requirements.
In Europe the sulphur content of marine fuel must be 1.0% as from July 2010. It will have to be 0.1% from 2015. Fuel suppliers are required by law to register with SEI to prove their fuel complies.
Ships are, tonne for tonne, the most efficient way of transporting goods worldwide.
A large ship carrying 100,000 tonnes of cargo would typically burn 100 tonnes per day of fuel. A voyage from Europe to the US will take 8-10 days. So, say 1000 tonnes of fuel.
How much fuel would a cargo plane burn to carry that much cargo across the pond?
How much fuel would a fleet of truck use to carry that much fuel across the pond?