ExxonMobil Insight: Part 1 - ECA Legislation [ Video ]

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Tuesday July 12, 2016

For many years there were no restrictions or legislation addressing ship emissions. The wheels of change were set in motion in September 1997 when, after six years of drafting effort, IMO adopted Marpol Annex VI - Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships. It came into force on May 19, 2005.

While this put a global limit on the sulfur content of bunkers, initially 4.5 percent before being lowered to 3.5 percent, since then emissions control areas (ECA) have also been established. These were initially in Europe, before the North American ECA came into effect in August 2012.

Inside these zones, operators must use bunkers with an even lower sulfur content. Most significantly, on January 1, 2015 this ECA sulfur limit was lowered to 0.10 percent, meaning that conventional HFO could no longer be used inside these zones without the vessel being fitted with a scrubber, adding yet another layer of complexity to the compliance picture.

This growing body of environmental legislation has caused the marine industry to undergo complex and extensive change. In response to this, ExxonMobil has developed a series of videos in which it examines the impact these ECA regulations have had on the use and management of marine fuel and lubricants.

Ship & Bunker has partnered with ExxonMobil to bring you the full "ExxonMobil Insight" series, and in this first video, ExxonMobil discusses the ECA legislation itself.

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