Danish authorities strengthen sulphur enforcement

It will focus on Denmark and the SECA countries, the plan’s goal is to further pursue the experiences gained by the authorities in 2015 through surveillance from the air and control in ports.

Andreas Nordseth, director general of the Danish Maritime Authority, said: “We have gained much experience from the implementation of the first action plan from 2014.”

“With the new plan for 2016, we want to extend the cooperation between the Danish authorities and to further strengthen our international cooperation – also in relation to the global sulphur limits of the future,” he added.

The plan contains initiatives focusing on the development of new surveillance technology, for fuel suppliers and the promotion of investments in technology making it possible for ships to comply with the sulphur emission requirements.

To achieve the plan’s goal, the collection of data from various sources will need to enable all SECA country authorities to optimise their performance. This means that international cooperation in the EU and the IMO must be extended further.

“Until now, surveillance has shown that only very few ships violate the regulations. This is positive. But, there is still a need for efficient control and enforcement in both Denmark and the other SECA countries,” said Michel Schilling, vice director of the Environmental Protection Agency.

He continued: “The strengthened efforts make it possible for us to ensure a level playing field for law-abiding shipowners, while reducing harmful ship pollution.”

Since the first action plan in 2014, launched initiatives have led to the number of controls of the sulphur content ships’ fuel being doubled in Denmark.

Last year stricter requirements for ships’ emission of sulphur took effect. Ships must now use low sulphur fuel or meet the requirements otherwise, for example by cleaning the exhaust gas by means of a “scrubber”.

The 2016 action plan can be found on the Danish Maritime Authority website.