Green Groups Critique Polar Code

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Monday January 27, 2014

The Polar Code draft released by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) does not address a number of serious problems with increasing marine traffic in the Arctic, a coalition of environmental organisations said in an emailed statement.

The groups, including Transport & Environment (T&E), Seas at Risk, and other organisations, say the code fails to address the danger of non ice-strengthened ships travelling in polar waters.

They also criticise the code for its failure to ban the use of heavy fuel oil (HFO) in the Arctic or to address black carbon emissions, a major contributor to climate change.

"A Polar Code which fails to address the major environmental dangers of increased shipping opens the door to potentially catastrophic consequences should a disaster happen," said Bill Hemmings, T&E's programme manager for aviation and shipping.

"Environmental protection has essentially been put on the back-burner through the active lobbying of the shipping and cruise industry which consistently dismisses ecological concerns."

Another environmental group, the World Wildlife Fund, has also called for a ban on HFO in the Arctic, but some shipping interests argue that such a rule would keep vessels from travelling through the Arctic at all.

Ship & Bunker News Team
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