Danish container ship and logistics giant Maersk Line has hailed the joint call of shipping industry players and environmental groups, earlier this week, for a ban on HFO carriage, according to the company’s COO, Søren Toft.
Great to see unprecedented & strong cross-sectoral & NGO support for ban on HighSulpher fuels. @Maersk fully support the ban & strong enforcement @MaerskLine @IMOHQ https://t.co/95Tvx2Ouzm
— Søren Toft (@ToftSoren) January 22, 2018
Namely, in a joint statement ahead of IMO’s Pollution, Prevention and Response (PPR) meeting in February, BIMCO, Clean Shipping Coalition, CLIA, Friends of the Earth US, ICS, International Parcel Tankers’ Association, INTERTANKO, Pacific Environment, World Shipping Council, and WWF Global Arctic Programme, asserted that a carriage ban will help ensure consistent enforcement of the global sulphur cap, entering into force on 1st January 2020.
The sulphur cap set by IMO defines that the maximum permitted sulphur content of marine fuel (outside Emission Control Areas) will reduce from 3.5% to 0.5%, which is expected to provide substantial environmental and human health benefits.
A number of international associations representing the global shipping industry, as well as the Cook Islands and Norway, have already submitted proposals to IMO to ban the carriage of non-complaint fuels. These proposals call for an amendment to Annex VI of the MARPOL Convention, stipulating that ships should not carry fuel for propulsion with a sulphur content above 0.5% (unless they are using an approved alternative compliance method).
