Stuart Edmonston, Loss Prevention Director at UK P&I Club (UK P&I) says the industry still has concerns over the use of low-sulfur fuels, and the need to comply with mandates regarding their use in ships is placing an increasing demand on shipowners.
Stricter limits on the sulphur content of shipping fuels are set to improve air quality along European coastlines and reduce the estimated 50,000 premature deaths caused each year by air pollution from ships. EU parliament today approved legislation agreed with member states, which requires new general limits to be in place by 2020.
Demand for low sulfur bunkers in the U.S. has risen to as much as 50% of the total U.S. market since the August 1, 2012 introduction of the North American Emissions Control Area (ECA), according to a Platts Podcast. All ships operating within the ECA, effectively a 200 nautical mile zone off the U.S. and Canada coastlines, must use a marine fuel with a sulfur content not exceeding 1.00% by weight.
In a few days (1 August 2012) the control of the sulphur content in fuel oil for ships operating within the designated North American Emission Control Area will be implemented. IMO’s MEPC.1/Circ.723 provides the boundary of the Emission Control Area. After 1 August 2012, the limit value of the sulphur content of any fuel oil used onboard vessels within North America ECA will change from 3.50% m/m to 1.00% m/m.
It appears that one does not simply enforces ECA regulations in Alaska and walks away with it. Last Friday Alaska sued the Obama administration aiming to block EPA in extending the North American Emissions Control Area to Alaska. According to the submitted law suit as of 1st August 2012 vessels operating within 200 miles of the Southeast and Southcentral Alaska coastlines will be required to use fuel with a sulfur content that does not exceed 1,000 parts per million.
The NA-ECA enters into force on August 1, 2012, and would set a 1% limit on the sulphur content of marine fuel, followed by a 0.1% limit in 2015. The proposed Regulations would also implement a regime to control air emissions from Canadian vessels in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence waters.
Due to significant additional discussions required with the domestic marine industry, the marine air emissions regulatory package will be delayed by a few months and will not come into effect on August 1, 2012, to implement the NA-ECA and standards for Canadian vessels operating in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence waters.
Last week CARB released a marine notice regarding upcoming requirements in the Fuel Sulfur Regulation and Other Operational Requirements for Ocean-Going Vessels within California Waters and 24 Nautical Miles of the California Baseline (California OGV Fuel Regulation).
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released interim guidance for ship owners and operators clarifying how the U.S. government will implement fuel availability provisions when ships are unable to obtain fuel that meets standards protecting against sulfur pollution along the coast. Sulfur pollution has been linked to respiratory illnesses, particularly in at-risk populations including children, the elderly, and asthmatics. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has officially designated waters off of the coast of North America, known as the North American Emission Control Area (North American ECA), as areas where stringent international pollution standards apply for ships, including fuel sulfur limits. The guidance provides background information on the North American ECA fuel sulfur standards, explains how owners and operators of vessels can establish compliance with these requirements, and describes how an owner or operator of a vessel who cannot obtain compliant fuel oil can make a fuel oil non-availability claim.
New International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations require that all vessels sailing in the Emission Control Areas (ECA) must reduce sulphur level in fuel oil to 0.1% or clean the exhaust gas to an equivalent level by 2015.
The Danish industry initiative, Green Ship of the Future, has concluded a study on comparing technologies that meet the International Maritime Organization’s emission levels for ships sailing in the Emission Controlled Areas (ECA).
The objective of the study was to compare the potential solutions able to meet the requirements of the IMO regulations regarding SOX in the ECA in 2015 and globally in 2020. Similarly in 2020, the global requirements will be a reduction of sulphur content in the fuel to 0.5% or alternatively the equivalent level measured in the exhaust gas.
The European Union has come to an agreement regarding draft legislation on marine fuels which aims in ensuring that all vessels operating in EU waters will reduce harmful emissions by adhering to sulphur content limits in marine fuels.
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Officer of the Watch 