Cutting Pollution From Shipping

Cutting Pollution From Shipping

Date: 27-Jul-09
Country: UNITED NATIONS
Author: Emma Farge

The United Nations shipping agency, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) is rolling out new measures that will force the shipping industry to use cleaner forms of residual fuel oil.

Here is some background on the body itself and a breakdown of plans to curb emissions.

IMO

-- A predecessor organization to the IMO was formed in 1948 to develop international standards for shipping.

-- The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships was adopted in 1978 as the main piece of legislation governing maritime pollution.

-- The IMO is composed of 169 member countries.

GLOBAL CAPS

-- In October 2008, a body of the IMO unanimously voted in a package of new measures to reduce harmful emissions from ships.

-- This has been ratified by 53 countries, representing approximately 82 percent of the gross tonnage of the world's merchant shipping fleet.

-- The global sulphur cap will be gradually reduced from the current 4.5 percent to 0.5 percent in 2020.

-- In January 2012 the sulphur cap will drop to 3.5 percent.

-- A feasibility review on the above measures will be completed by 2018.

EMISSION CONTROL AREAS

-- In May 2005, the first Sulphur Emission Control Area (SECA) was formed and a more stringent 1.5 percent cap came into force in this zone.

-- The North Sea and the English Channel became part of the first SECA in 2006.

-- Starting last year SECAs became simply Emission Control Areas (ECA) to allow caps to be introduced for other forms of emissions such as nitrogen oxide.

-- Sulphur restrictions in the ECA will drop from 1.5 percent to 1 percent in July 2010.

-- The sulphur cap will be reduced to 0.10 percent from 1 January 2015.

-- The United States and Canada applied to form a second ECA earlier this year.