Time to think about enforcing emissions limits

IMO?s Regulations for the Prevention of Air Pollution from ships (Marpol) is set to come into force on 19 May next year. This follows ratification by Samoa, fulfilling the entry-into-force requirements that specify acceptance by 15 IMO member states with not less than 50% of world merchant shipping tonnage. Samoa is the 15th state and Annex VI has now been ratified by countries with 54.57% of world merchant shipping tonnage.

Annex VI regulations were adopted by the IMO back in 1997 and sets limits on sulphur oxide and nitrogen oxide emissions from ship exhausts and prohibits deliberate emissions of ozone-depleting substances.

IMO secretary-general Efthimios Mitropoulos said “With the entry into force of Annex VI, the full set of Marpol international regulations for the prevention of pollution by ships will be in force. We must now ensure their effective implementation and enforcement.” In welcoming entry into force of Annex VI, the Secretary-General also took the opportunity to urge governments to ratify other IMO pollution-prevention instruments, particularly the International Convention on the Control of Harmful Anti-fouling Systems on Ships of 2001, which has so far been ratified by eight of the 25 States representing 25% of the world’s tonnage required for it to enter into force, and the recently adopted International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments.

At face value, implementing Annex VI is hardly a dramatic step. Its regulations include a global cap of 4.5% on the sulphur content of fuel oil which is actually higher than the level found in most bunkers. What makes Annex VI important is that it contains provisions allowing for special SOx Emission Control Areas (SECAs) to be established with more stringent controls on sulphur emissions. In these areas, the sulphur content of fuel oil used on board ships must not exceed 1.5%.

Alternatively, ships must fit an exhaust gas cleaning system or use any other technological method to limit SOx emissions. The Baltic Sea Area is designated as a SECA in the protocol. In addition, in March 2000, the IMO’s Maritime Environmental Protection Committee approved an amendment to Annex VI to include the North Sea as a SOx Emission Control Area. The aim is to adopt the amendment once Marpol Annex VI enters into force. It is likely that the SECAs will come into effect in 2006.

These SECAs are the key to turning what was a very relaxed control on sulphur content into a tough target to meet. The European Commission was a strong proponent of the SECAs but is actually proposing tougher rules for vessels while at EU ports. It will be some time before the actual shape of the new EU rules become clear but right now the shipowners will have to get used to meeting the 1.5% limit around northern Europe.