EMEA News
EU Ports Urge MEPC to Back NOx ECA Proposal
The Port of Rotterdam Friday announced that the port authorities of Antwerp, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Le Havre, and Bremen/Bremerhaven are urging the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) Maritime Environmental Protection Committee at its 70th session (MEPC 70) this week to support the designation of a North Sea and Baltic Sea nitrogen oxide (NOx) emission control area (ECA), or NECA, by 2021.
As Ship & Bunker has previously reported, countries of both Baltic Sea and North Sea areas said they would put forth parallel applications for a NECA to the IMO by July 1, 2016.
"With the submission to designate the North Sea and Baltic Sea as a NECA there is a huge opportunity to further decrease the harmful impact on the environment," said the Port of Rotterdam.
The port says that, while "significant" steps have been taken to reduce NOx emissions from land-based sources, the shipping industry has not yet achieved similar reductions.
"International studies have shown that the designation of an NECA is an (cost)effective way to reduce NOx-emissions from seagoing vessels," said the port.
"There is a range of proven technologies available to comply with these NECA requirements including dual fuel engines or pure gas engines that can operate on liquefied natural gas (LNG), selective catalytic reduction (SCR) and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR)."
The port says IMO-implemented global standards provide a foundation for the shipping industry to reduce its emissions, with IMO NOx Tier III requirements operating as the key instrument to achieve further decreases in NOx emissions - increasing reductions by about 75 percent compared to IMO Tier II.
In August, the Swedish Government said it would investigate the impacts that a NECA, in the Baltic and North Seas will have on Swedish industry.
