中国海洋运输污染重于陆地交通

Container ships from China laden with cargo for the rest of the world disperse more than toys, televisions and other exports. They are also a serious, often neglected, emitter of pollution from the cheap fuel allowed under Chinese rules, according to a new report from the Natural Resources Defense Council, a United States-based environmental advocacy group.

来自中国的集装箱运货船上满载着运送到世界其他地方的货物，但它们运输的却不只是玩具、电视机和其他出口物资。设在美国的环境倡导组织自然资源保护协会(Natural Resources Defense Council)的一篇新报告称，这些船还是往往被忽视的严重污染源，因为它们使用了中国规定所允许的廉价燃料。

Except when they approach and dock at ports that require cleaner fuel, such as in the United States or Europe, oceangoing ships plying trade through Chinese ports usually use cheap “bunker” oil, a grade of fuel that is heavy in sulfur and leaves a dense trail of fine soot, ozone and nitrogen- and sulfur-based pollutants, said the report, which was released on Tuesday.

周二发布的报告表示，除了靠近或停靠在要求使用清洁燃料的港口时——比如美国或欧洲港口——在中国各港口从事贸易活动的海运船只通常会使用廉价的燃料油。这种级别的燃料含有大量硫磺，会留下由微细烟尘、臭氧，以及氮硫污染物组成的明显痕迹。

“Regulation of air emissions from ships is virtually nonexistent today in China and the rest of the developing world,” the report said.

报告称，“目前，中国几乎没有任何规定来管理船只排放的空气污染物，其他发展中国家也是如此。”

“With ships allowed to burn fuel with much higher sulfur levels than permitted in on-road diesel, one container ship cruising along the coast of China emits as much diesel fuel pollution as 500,000 new Chinese trucks in a single day,” an accompanying summary of the report said.

随报告一同发布的摘要称，“由于与陆用柴油机相比，船用燃料的含硫量可以高很多，一艘沿中国海岸航行的货船所排放的柴油污染物，相当于50万辆新的中国卡车一天所排放的污染物。”

Freda Fung, a consultant in Hong Kong who was one of the report’s four co-authors, said in an interview that the estimate referred to PM 2.5: the soup of small-particle pollution that hangs over many Chinese cities, causing breathing problems and public ire.

香港顾问冯淑慧(Freda Fung)是这篇报告的四名作者之一，她在采访中说，上述估值指的是PM 2.5：由微细颗粒混合而成的污染物，它笼罩在许多中国城市上方，引起了呼吸问题和公众的愤怒。

The shipping pollution is a significant contributor to overall pollution and to poor health in some of China’s biggest cities, Ms. Fung said. China has seven of the world’s 10 busiest ports, with Shanghai at the top of the list, and about a quarter of the world’s container volume passes through the country’s 10 busiest ports, the report said. Other big port cities in China include Shenzhen, Qingdao and Tianjin, and nearly all of the port equipment uses diesel, also heavy in pollutants.

冯淑慧说，海运所产生污染物对整体污染情况造成了极大影响，也在一些中国大城市引起了健康问题。报告称，世界上最繁忙的10个港口有7个都在中国，其中最繁忙的是上海；而且，世界总体货运量中大约有四分之一都要经过中国最繁忙的10个港口。中国其他大型港口城市还包括深圳、青岛和天津，而且几乎所有的港口设备使用的都是柴油机，污染也很严重。

“Since Chinese port cities are among the most densely populated with the busiest ports in the world,” the report said, “air pollution from ships and port activities likely contributes to much higher public health risks than are found in other port regions.”

“因为中国港口城市是世界上人口密度最大，且港口最为繁忙的城市，”报告称，“所以与其他港口地区相比，这里的船只和港口活动所产生的污染物很可能会对公众健康造成更大威胁。”

The damage is difficult to quantify given the other sources of contaminants and the complexities of tracking health. But soot from bunker fuel and low-grade diesel exhaust tends to be especially harmful because it is so fine and carries dozens of chemical contaminants, some of which can travel through the air for many thousands of miles.

由于存在其他污染源，而且跟踪健康状况具有一定的复杂性，所以很难对损害进行量化。但是，燃料油所产生的烟尘和低级柴油机废气可能危害更大。这是因为，它们的体积非常小，而且携带着数十种化学污染物，有些污染物能够通过空气到达数千英里以外。

The result is “a toxic stew of cancer-causing diesel exhaust and black carbon that chronically plagues China’s growing port regions,” Barbara Finamore, the Asia director of the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in an email. One study cited in the report estimated that in 2008, air pollutants from ocean and river vessels had caused about 1,200 premature deaths in Hong Kong.

结果产生了“一种由可致癌柴油废气和黑碳组成的有毒混合物，长期盘踞在中国发展中的港口地区上空，”自然资源保护协会的亚洲项目主任芭芭拉·菲娜慕(Barbara Finamore)在电子邮件中说。据报告援引的一份研究估计，到2008年，来自航行在海洋与河流上的船只的污染物就已经导致香港1200人过早死亡。

Stricter standards in North America, especially California, and Western Europe mean that when ships approach and stop at ports there, they switch their engines to cleaner diesel that has much less sulfur, Ms. Fung said. The International Maritime Organization has also set fuel sulfur standards for seas off North America and parts of Europe.

冯淑慧说，北美——尤其是加州——和西欧的标准比较严格，也就是说，当船只靠近或停靠在那里的港口时，它们就要使用比较清洁的柴油来驱动引擎，这种燃料的含硫量要低很多。国际海事组织(International Maritime Organization)也为北美和欧洲部分地区的海洋设定了燃料的含硫标准。

But bunker oil is “the cheapest fuel, so whenever possible the ship operators prefer to use it, unless they’re required to use a different fuel,” Ms. Fung said.

但是，燃料油是“最廉价的燃料，所以只要有机会，船只的运营者就会选择它，除非有人要求他们使用别的燃料，”冯淑慧说。

Stung by public alarm about pollution, China has introduced tougher fuel and vehicle standards on its roads. Ms. Fung said she hoped the same pressure would encourage the government to introduce more stringent rules for ships. Hong Kong, with its own distinctive laws and government, has used the incentive of reduced port fees to encourage ships stopping there to use cleaner fuel and was developing proposed mandatory restrictions, she said.

由于公众对污染问题十分担心，促使中国政府对路面交通采取了更严格的燃料和车辆标准。冯淑慧表示，她希望同样的压力将促使政府针对船只出台一些更严格的规定。她说，拥有独立法律体系和政府的香港政府采取了减少港口使用费的激励措施，以鼓励停靠在那里的船只使用比较清洁的燃料，有关方面提出的强制性限制措施也在酝酿中。

Shenzhen, the large port on mainland China near Hong Kong, has developed plans to discourage use of the dirtiest diesel by ships docking there, Ms. Fung said. But other mainland Chinese ports have been slower to act, and without concerted international action, ship operators are likely to keep switching their vessels to bunker fuel on the open seas after they leave regulated ports and waters, she said.

深圳是中国大陆的一个大型港口城市，靠近香港。冯淑慧称，深圳已经推出了一些计划，意图阻止停靠在那里的船只使用污染最严重的柴油。她说，但是其他中国大陆港口的行动比较迟缓，而且如果没有国际社会的一致行动，船只运营者很可能就会在离开受管制的港口和水域后，在公海上使用燃料油。

“If Shenzhen follows, eventually I hope there’ll be a chain reaction for the other major ports in China,” she said.

她说，“如果深圳也能这样做，我希望中国的其他重要港口最终也会发生连锁反应。”