EMEA News
Danish Shipowners' Association Urges For More ECA Enforcement
Enforcement of Emission Control Areas (ECAs) need to be significantly ramped up in order to limit the economic incentives of flouting the rules, the Danish Shipowners' Association announced this week.
Since the beginning of the year, ships travelling in ECAs have had to limit the sulfur content in marine fuel used to 0.10 percent or lower.
"There is a lot of money to be made in circumventing the requirements of the Directive, and that makes effective international enforcement crucial," said Senior Adviser Jesper Stubkjaer.
"Without enforcement, we risk losing the environmental and health related improvements."
In particular, the association highlighted that ships that are bound for ports outside of ECAs may be more likely to not comply.
"Ships can be subject to sulphur testing when calling a port in Europe (Port State Control), but when ships leave a port in the North or Baltic Sea bound for a port outside Europe, there is no risk of sulphur inspection," Stubkjaer said.
"It is these vessels in particular that the Danish Shipowners' Association fears will deliberately bypass the rules."
The association also stressed that allowing non-compliant ships to slip by hurt the competitive advantage of companies that played fair.
Ship & Bunker reported in 2013 that deliberate non-compliance of ECAs was expected on a wide scale, though the recent fall in bunker prices has so far appeared to make compliance a relatively more desirable option.
Earlier this year, a report also purportedly found that ECA compliance was better than expected.
