IMO revise emission rules, US-Canada to set up mega control zone

THE UN's International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has published on its website international regulations on preventing and reducing harmful emissions from ships, such as sulphur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter.

The revised MARPOL Annex VI (Regulations for the Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships) and the revised NOx Technical Code 2008 were adopted by IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee in October, with an entry into force date of July 1, 2010, an IMO statement said. North America's coastal waters are now set to become the world's largest 'Emissions Control Area' (ECA). If approved by the IMO, the new plan would require all ships engaged in international trades that either call at US ports or transit the designated zone to use very low sulphur fuel oil. The joint proposal put forward to the IMO by the US and CanadaNorth Sea. However, these ECAs do not have as wide a reach as the 200-mile reach of the North American ECA, where around 93,000 ships call at 100 ports in the two nations.

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