The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), issued five briefing papers, prepared by PhD Bryan Comer, summarizing HFO use in the IMO Polar Code Arctic, for 2015. While ships registered in Russia consumed the most HFO by far in the IMO Arctic in 2015, followed by Denmark and South Korea, Russian-flagged fishing vessels consumed nearly 15 thousand tonnes of HFO, emitting approximately 10 tonnes of BC, 10-times more BC than Denmark and South Korea.
While commercial fishing is vital to food security and economic prosperity, it also poses a threat to the Arctic environment through air and climate pollution emissions, including Black Carbon emissions, and through the risks of HFO spills.
Highlights HFO use and BC emissions by flag state By flag state: Fishing vessels flew 17 different flags in 2015. Ships registered in Russia consumed the most HFO by far in the IMO Arctic in 2015, followed by Denmark and South Korea. Russian-flagged fishing vessels consumed nearly 15 thousand tonnes of HFO in the IMO Arctic in 2015, emitting approximately 10 tonnes of BC, 10-times more BC than Denmark and South Korea, whose HFO-fueled fleets each emitted approximately 1 tonne of BC. As such, HFO-fueled Russian-flagged ships accounted for 64% of HFO consumption and 21% of BC emissions from fishing vessels (all fuels) in the IMO Arctic in 2015. This should come as no surprise, as Russian-flagged fishing vessels represented 116 of the 159 HFO-fueled fishing vessels (73%) operating in the IMO Arctic in 2015. HFO carriage as fuel by flag state Fishing vessels registered to Russia carried the most HFO onboard as fuel, carrying more than 20-times as much as the next closest flag state, South Korea. They also carried over 52 thousand tonnes of HFO as fuel, equivalent to 78% of HFO onboard fishing vessels. When we multiply each ship’s fuel carriage by the distance it sailed, we find that Russian-flagged fishing vessels continue to dominate, representing six-times as much as the next closest flag state, South Korea, and 62% of total distance-weighted HFO carriage. This was expected as Russia has 116 HFO-fueled fishing vessels, compared to only 6 registered to South Korea. Clearly, Russia dominates fishing activity in the IMO Arctic. Thus, voluntary actions from Russia to phase out the use of HFO in all or a portion of its fleet could have a dramatic impact on reducing the risks of HFO from fishing vessels in the IMO Arctic. With that said, there are large ships registered to Denmark and South Korea that use and carry a considerable amount of HFO that pose a threat to the Arctic. Therefore, it seems that a region-wide policy that applies to the entire Arctic, regardless of flag, would offer the most protection against the risks of HFO. Explore more herebelow:
