The port of Veracruz is one of the most important ports in Mexico and is currently in the process of a major expansion. The new port area, “Bahía Norte”, will be three times larger than the current port, “Bahía Sur”. Atmospheric emissions from the Veracruz port system, specifically from the engines of ships undergoing maneuvering and hotelling operations, were determined on a daily basis from 2018 to 2019 for sulfur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen oxides (NO_x), carbon monoxide (CO), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC), particles (PM), particles smaller than 10 micrometers (PM₁₀), particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers (PM_2.5) and carbon dioxide (CO₂). A bottom-up method was used to estimate the atmospheric emissions, based on official data from the European Environment Agency. The method utilizes on technical information on the type of ship, the power of the main engine (ME) and auxiliary engine (AE), load factor, specific fuel consumption, and spent time in the maneuvering and hotelling phases. The highest atmospheric emissions occurred in the hotelling phase. For the “Bahía Sur” emissions (Mg/year) were 328.6, 993.3, 122.3, 30.6, 22.9, 19.1, 18.5 and 52,723.4 for SO₂, NO_x, CO, NMVOC, PM, PM₁₀, PM_2.5 and CO₂, respectively. For “Bahía Norte” the corresponding emissions were 43.9, 132.7, 16.3, 4.1, 3.1, 2.5, 2.3 and 7,040.9, also in the hotelling phase. The average combined of the atmospheric emissions from maneuvering and hotelling phases (Mg/year) were 1.18, 3.49, 0.44, 0.13, 0.09, 0.08, 0.07, and 189.23 for SO₂, NO_x, CO, NMVOC, PM, PM₁₀, PM_2.5 and CO₂, respectively. During the 2018-2019 period of the study the “Bahía Sur” contributed ~87% and the “Bahía Norte” ~13% of the atmospheric emissions.

Atmospheric emissions from vessels at 38 Pacific and Gulf-Caribbean Mexican ports were determined for nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, particulates, carbon monoxide, non-methane volatile organic compounds, and carbon dioxide. The emissions have been estimated using a bottom-up methodology in the maneuver and hoteling phases, by vessel type, from 2005 to 2020. Maritime traffic in Mexico’s Pacific zone contributes approximately with 60% of the country’s total ship emissions, with the remaining 40% in Gulf-Caribbean ports. The highest atmospheric emissions were found at the Manzanillo and Lázaro Cárdenas ports on the Pacific coast, as well as the Altamira and Veracruz ports on the Gulf-Caribbean coast. The contribution of the atmospheric emissions by vessel type at Pacific ports was Container 67%, Bulk Carrier 32%, Tanker 0.8%, and RoRo 0.4%. For Gulf-Caribbean ports it was Container 76%, Bulk Carrier 19%, Tanker 3%, and RoRo 2%. This study incorporates the International Maritime Organization implementations on reductions of sulfur content in marine fuel, from 4.5% mass by mass from 2005 to 2011, to 3.5% from 2012 to 2019, to 0.5% beginning in 2020. Overall, sulfur dioxide emissions were reduced by 89%.

Indicators of environmental policies in force in Mexico, fossil fuels will continue to be used in industrial sectors, especially marine fuels, such as marine diesel oil, in port systems for some time. Considering this, we have evaluated several methods corresponding to a top-down system for determining fuel consumption and sulfur dioxide atmospheric emissions for the port of Veracruz in 2020 by type of ship on a daily resolution, considering a sulfur content of 0.5% mass by mass in marine fuel. After analyzing seven methods for determining sulfur dioxide atmospheric emission levels, Goldsworthy’s method was found to be the best option to characterize this port. The port system has two maritime zones, one of which is in expansion, which represented 55.66% of fuel consumption and 23.05% of atmospheric emissions according to the typology of vessels. We found that higher fuel consumption corresponded to container vessels, and tanker vessels represented higher atmospheric emission levels in the berthing position. The main differences that we found in the analysis of the seven methods of the top-down system corresponded to the load factor parameter, main and auxiliary engine power, and estimation of fuel consumption by type of vessel.

This study analyzed the impact of shipping emissions on air quality in the Port of Veracruz using the Random Forest model for meteorological normalization. Air quality data for SO₂, PM₁₀, and PM_2.5 (2017-2020) were processed with the rmweather package, evaluating different model configurations. The default setup (300 trees, 1000 predictions) provided optimal R² and MSE. Meteorological variables such as temperature, wind speed/direction, and humidity significantly influenced pollutant concentrations. SO₂ was strongly linked to temperature and wind direction, while PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 correlated with wind speed and humidity. Since the monitoring station captures multiple pollution sources, a broader emissions inventory was needed, but only shipping data was available. The study assessed SO₂ emissions under different sulfur content scenarios, showing that the 3.5 % sulfur case overestimated concentrations, while 0.5 % and 0.05 % underestimated them. This aligns with the CALPUFF model, considering only shipping emissions.

Altamira is one of the most important Mexican ports in the Gulf of Mexico, located in an important industrial and petrochemical, which is a high pollutant emission area. In this study, the atmospheric emissions generated by shipping activity in the port of Altamira were estimated, specifically those caused by engine combustion. Official data from the port of Altamira were used, covering the period from 2017 to 2022. The Bottom-Up approach was applied considering the maneuvering and hotelling phases of the ships. The calculated emissions covered various substances, including criteria pollutants, toxics, persistent organic pollutants, and greenhouse gases. Maneuvering and hotelling times were considered individually for each vessel to obtain a more accurate representation of emissions. Emissions were found to be directly influenced by several factors, including vessel operating times, number of recorded arrivals, and engine power. Emissions during the study period were higher in 2022 due to increased length of stay and the number of ships arriving. About the categorization of emitting vessels, it was determined that container ships stood out as the main generators of pollutants. This was followed by bulk carriers, which had long dwell times during the port phase, contributing to their higher emissions. In comparison tankers had relatively lower emissions compared to the other ship types. Finally, the ARIMA forecast model was applied to predict future NMVOC, CO₂, and SO₂ emissions.