Protecting The Environment From Shipping- - Coastnet The Edge Winter 2008 - Coastal Industry

Protecting the environment from shipping With shipping responsible for transporting more than 90 per cent of the world’s trade, Natasha Brown, from the International Maritime Organization, looks at the industries efforts to limit its pollution and emissions.

There’s no avoiding the fact that the modern world is utterly dependent on motorised transport systems that run largely on fossil fuels. Their use inevitably carries an environmental burden, primarily through the emission of greenhouse gases. These emissions are now widely accepted as being significant contributory factors towards global warming and climate change. The shipping trade Rail and road transport, aviation and shipping all produce emissions. These different modes of transport perform different functions, with the primary function of shipping being to transport huge volumes of cargo, unitised or in bulk, across the world’s oceans. In fact, the shipping industry is responsible for the carriage of more than 90 per cent of world trade and is arguably the life blood of the global economy.

agency with responsibility for safety and security at sea and prevention of marine pollution by ships. Since it began in 1959, the IMO has adopted 50 international treaties which include a wide range of measures to prevent and control pollution caused by ships and to mitigate the effects of any damage that may occur as a result of maritime operations.

The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution Without shipping, it would simply not from Ships be possible to conduct intercontinental trade, the bulk transport of raw materials or the import and export of affordable food and manufactured goods. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) estimates that, over the last four decades, total seaborne trade has more than quadrupled, from less than six thousand billion tonnemiles in 1965 to over 27 thousand billion tonne-miles in 2004. Today, world trade continues to grow and the international shipping industry has responded to the demand for its services. The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) is the United Nations specialised

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The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, universally known as MARPOL, was adopted by IMO in 1973 and today, much expanded and updated, remains the most important international

convention covering the prevention of pollution by ships, whether from operational or accidental causes. MARPOL’s six annexes set out regulations dealing with pollution from ships by oil; by noxious liquid substances carried in bulk; harmful substances carried by sea in packaged form; sewage, garbage; and the prevention of air pollution from ships. In conjunction with other measures, MARPOL has laid the foundation for substantial and continued reductions in pollution from ships despite the massive increase in world seaborne trade. The IMO is currently undertaking a review of the existing MARPOL Annex VI, which sets limits on sulphur oxide

The average number of ship-source oil spills over 700 tonnes has shrunk from over 25 annually in the 1970s to just 3.7 per year in the 2000s.

(SOx) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from ship exhausts; prohibits deliberate emissions of ozone-depleting substances; provides regulations for emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from tankers and puts a global cap on the sulphur content of fuel oil. When its revision is completed, the Annex will also cover particulate matter.

included in the revised Annex VI. It is anticipated that the revised Annex VI would enter into force in 2010. Concurrently, IMO has an action plan to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases from ships, particularly carbon dioxide (CO2), which is not covered in the current Annex VI. It is cooperating closely with international shipping and other relevant UN bodies, in particular the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat, in this work, to ensure that the issue is tackled on a truly international level, thereby avoiding unhelpful unilateral action on a regional or national level.

Emissions reductions from shipping

Greenhouse Gas Indexing Scheme

A cross government/industry scientific group of experts, established by IMO Secretary-General Efthimios Mitropoulos in July 2007 has reviewed the environmental, human health and shipping and petroleum industry impacts of applying any of the proposed fuel options to reduce SOx and particulate matter generated by shipping and the consequential impact on other emissions, including CO2 emissions from ships and refineries. The final report was completed in midDecember 2007 and submitted to the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) and the Bulk Liquids and Gases (BLG) SubCommittee, so that its conclusions can aid the decisions on what should be

In the first years of the new millennium, the MEPC’s work focused on the development of a GHG Indexing Scheme for ships, in order to establish a common approach for trials on voluntary CO2 emission indexing, to enable shipowners to evaluate the performance of their fleet with regard to CO2 emissions. As the amount of CO2 emitted from a ship is directly related to the consumption of bunker fuel oil, CO2 indexing will also provide useful information on a ship’s performance with regard to fuel efficiency. The MEPC has now received results from hundreds of trials conducted over several years and, at its 56th session in July 2007, decided to establish a central

database to make the huge volume of CO2 indexing data accessible for comparison and further studies by Member States and the shipping industry. The MEPC has observed that identical ships in seemingly similar trades produce different results. The difference may result from different weather conditions or from operational differences concerning the specific utilisation of individual ships involved in the trials. Issues such as the length of time spent waiting in port areas, the length of ballast voyages, and whether the ship is fully laden or not, can all make a difference. The central database will be accessible to the public in the first part of 2008. Enhancements in the efficiency of engine and propulsion systems and improved hull designs have already led to increased fuel efficiency. Larger ships and a more rational utilisation of individual vessels have also contributed significantly to reducing the amount of energy needed to transport a given unit of cargo. Nevertheless, IMO continues to work on further reducing harmful emissions from shipping, a transport industry vital to world trade and development. There is today a growing concern for our environment and a genuine fear that, if we do not change our ways, the damage we will inflict on our planet will render it incapable of sustaining the economy we have grown accustomed to. The edge Winter 2008

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