Emissions concerns rise over ships’ fuel

Shipping traffic at the Port of Boston recorded double-digit growth last year, which Massport is touting as an economic boon for the state. Gloucester is slowly building itself into a regular port of call for major cruise lines.

But along with economic benefits of the steady growth in the shipping industry, environmentalists’ worries are growing about unregulated pollution from the cheap, sulfur-laden bunker fuel oil that powers most large tankers and cruise ships.