NGOs Protest Delay on NOx Limits

Antoine Kedzierski of T&E said the delay is "nothing less than a disaster"

Environmental non-governmental organisations (NGOs) Transport & Environment (T&E) and Seas at Risk are criticising a decision by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to postpone the entry into force of a new limit on the emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) for ship engines.

The decision delays from 2016 to 2021 the introduction of a stricter NOx emission limit for engines of ships built from 2016 when sailing in so-called "NOx Emissions Control Areas" (ECAs), the groups said in an emailed press release.

This new NOx standard is about 75% lower than emissions of current engines and will mean cleaner air over European and North American seas and coastal areas, the groups added.

Currently, the North American ECA is the only area where NOx limits have been agreed.

"Today's decision to delay ship engine NOx standards is a shameful act by the IMO, and nothing less than a disaster," said Antoine Kedzierski, T&E clean shipping officer.

"Two years before the entry into force of the next emissions limit, the IMO punishes those who have chosen to invest in clean innovation in order to comply and rewards those who have cynically waited and lobbied for postponement."

The NGOs called on the European Union (EU) to take action on its own to limit NOx emissions, adding that this latest IMO decision needs to be adopted by vote in the next Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), expected to be held in March 2014.

The EU has already been pushing to reduce NOx emissions in the Baltic Sea through schemes including the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkers.