Extinction Rebellion (NGO organization) staged a protest on Sunday, June 11th, causing a temporary delay in the departure of HAL-Holland America's ship ms Zuiderdam. This is the second time in 4 years that the group has disrupted the ship's operations.
Around 60 activists from Extinction Rebellion and its affiliate group, Scientist Rebellion, gained access to Zuiderdam's berth at Rotterdam's cruise terminal. They spent ~6 hours obstructing the mooring bollards by using homemade tripods and human blockades to prevent the removal of the mooring lines.
The group's primary demand is a complete ban on cruise ships to Port Rotterdam (Netherlands) in order to mitigate climate and health-related emissions. They argue that since there is currently no widely available zero-CO2 fuel for shipping, ceasing cruise ship operations is the only practical option to achieve zero emissions, despite the significant economic impact on seafarers, the tourism industry, and other stakeholders.
Although Rotterdam has the option to install cold-ironing facilities, which would reduce health-related pollutants (SOx, NOx, and PM) emitted by generator operations, Extinction Rebellion spokesperson expressed dissatisfaction with this solution. They claimed that shore power would consume renewable electricity that is needed by other industries.
Extinction Rebellion specifically focuses on cruise ship emissions among all types of vessels due to their recreational nature, highlighting their contribution to CO2 emissions.
For more ms Zuiderdam incidents and accidents see the ship's CruiseMinus page.