In the SHIPMATE project, we have carried out measurements of a large number of pollutants and aerosol components at the Mt. Zeppelin observatory during 2014 and 2015, with focus on the summer period (April to September). The aims were 1) identification of the particulate matter (PM) contribution from ship emissions by source apportionment and 2) isolation of data records influenced by local ship emissions in order to preserve the usefulness of the observatory for regional trends of atmospheric constituents. A total of 8 potentially ship-influenced 3-day sampling intervals were found in the analysis of the wind direction record and the harbour calls from Ny-Ålesund (2014 and 2015). The local shipping pollution contributed significantly (≥50%) to the concentration levels of certain heavy metals such as Cu, Ni, Zn and Cd during the two summers. This is supported by the enrichment factors analysis. However, the influence of local pollution from shipping on the measurements carried out at the Mt. Zeppelin observatory is rather infrequent.