Nowadays, maritime air pollution is regarded as a severe threat to coastal communities’ health. Therefore, many policies to reduce air pollution have been established worldwide. Moreover, there has been a shift in policy and research attention from greenhouse gases, especially CO₂, to other air pollutants. To address the current local environmental challenges, this research analyzes the non-greenhouse gas emissions inventory (CO, NO_x, SO_x, PM, VOC, and NH₃) from ships in the second biggest port in Korea, the Port of Incheon (POI). A bottom-up activity-based methodology with real-time vessel activity data produced by the Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) is applied to obtain reliable estimations. NO_x and SO_x dominated the amount of emission emitted from ships. Tankers, general cargo ships, cruise ships, and container ships were identified as the highest sources of pollution. Based on the above results, this study discusses the need for long-term policies, such as the designation of a local emission control area (ECA) and the establishment of an emission management platform to reduce ship-source emissions. Furthermore, this study elucidates that significant emissions come from the docking process, ranging from 33.9% to 42.0% depending on the type of pollutant when only the auxiliary engines were being operated. Therefore, short-term solutions like applying exhausted gas cleaning systems, using on-shore power supplies, reducing docking time, or using greener alternative fuels (e.g., liquefied natural gas or biofuels) should be applied and motivated at the POI. These timely results could be useful for air quality management decision-making processes for local port operators and public agencies.

As a result of growing international trade, port-related emission is a spreading issue for urban areas located near ports, especially, hub port cities where population density is concentrated. The awareness of rapidly increasing drayage trucks moving cargo between the port and its hinterland has motivated the necessity of a detailed look at negative environmental impacts of these truck fleets on the achievement of sustainability goals. This study analyzes emission inventory from trucking activities around the Port of Incheon (POI), especially focusing on major air pollutants, and suggests ideas to support establishing new policies in port area. Data on the number of truck, the year of production, the type of fuel, etc. during 2018 were collected from Incheon Port Security and Korea Transport Safety Authority. A bottom-up methodology is applied based on guideline from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As results, the major role of drayage truck fleets to local air pollution was highlighted with the high contribution of CO and NO_x emissions. Hence, this study suggested the establishment of Emission Control Area (ECA) and Affected Zone on the landside as well as implementing Integrated Information System and Truck Appointment System to reduce congestion at gate, limit the number of emissions and minimize negative impacts to local community.