EMEA News
Port of Gothenburg: 20% of Vessels Not Complying With 2015 ECA Rules
The Port of Gothenburg Tuesday announced an 80 percent fall in sulfur emissions following stricter rules which came into force on January 1, 2015, but 20 percent of ships are not complying with the new rules.
The port lies within the European Emissions Control Area (ECA) within which ships are now required to burn bunkers with a sulfur content of no more than 0.10 percent sulfur by weight, or use an equivalent method of compliance such as a scrubber to reduce sulfur emissions by an equivalent amount.
Sulfur emissions levels have been recorded using a "sniffer" located at the Älvsborg Fortress, in the fairway leading in to the port, which was first revealed in December last year.
The sniffer was developed at Chalmers University of Technology with support from Vinnova, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and Gothenburg Port Authority.
During the first two weeks of January, the sniffer recorded sulfur and carbon dioxide levels emitted from around 200 ships.
Of these 20 percent of the ships' emissions were estimated to be too high.
"It is incredibly positive to see that the new rules are having such an effect and that sulphur emissions are falling," said Edvard Molitor, Senior Environment Manager at the Port of Gothenburg.
"At the same time there is still uncertainty regarding the control system for vessels that are failing to comply with the rules.
"The industry has reason to be concerned that less serious shipping companies will not follow the rules and that this will lead to a distortion in competition."
The Port of Gothenburg said it hoped sniffer technology would be used as part of compliance measures for the new rules.
In January, Port Metro Vancouver said new ECA rules would reduce the city's marine sulfur emissions by 95 percent compared to 2005 levels.
