Ships that use sulfur-rich fuels emit flue gas containing components harmful to human health and environment, such as sulfur dioxide. To reduce the level of sulfur emissions, ships are equipped with flue gas cleaning systems, such as gas scrubbers. Structured column packings are used within these gas scrubbers to ensure the efficient mass-transfer of pollutants between flue gas and washing liquid. In this work, investigations of the sulfur dioxide separation into sea water were carried out using a laboratory-scale column. The focus lied on the characterization of the influence of variable seawater composition. It was found that the variation of seawater alkalinity overall has a greater influence on sulfur dioxide removal efficiency than variations in seawater salinity. The entirety of measurements shows an increase of sulfur dioxide removal efficiency with increased alkalinity. An increase of salinity at first leads to an increased removal efficiency as well; after reaching a maximum however, removal efficiency is lowered again by further increases in salinity. Furthermore, a new method for characterizing column packings using so called test systems according to VDI 2761-2 was examined in detail and necessary analytical capabilities, especially the analysis of dissolved carbon dioxide within washing liquids, were implemented. As an additional result of this work the capability of the existing absorption column pilot plant at the Chair of Process Technology and Environmental Protection for conducting standardized mass transfer measurements according to the aforementioned VDI-guideline was shown.