According to a research by University of Malta professor Raymond Ellul, Malta-registered ships produce nearly 200 kilotons of emissions annually. For this reason, the Maltese government is urged to take measures to reduce shipping emissions.
Currently, almost 1,300 transhipment vessels carry the Maltese flag, making up 10% of the global total. These ships produced nearly 200 kilotons of emissions annually, which is around a tenth of the global total professor Ellul discovered.
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In addition, professor Ellul and his team have been studying ship emissions in the central Mediterranean, finding that the situation is getting worse. Under this, local media reported that ships sailing or bunkering off Malta produce more toxic emissions than 30 Marsa power stations.
However, Mr. Ellul believes that there is hope, as Malta had a veto on the IMO. Nevertheless, a government spokeswoman mentioned that while the government is to suggestions, lobbying international neighbours is going to be difficult.
The need for Malta to lobby for shipping emissions reduction have been brought up in the past as well. Namely, in March Malta was criticised for its low ambition levels regarding shipping emissions, despite its importance in ship registries.
In fact, a report by Transport and Environment which assesses national ambition for climate action in negotiations at the IMO, ranks Malta 14 of 23 EU maritime nations. According to the report, the largest shipping registers generally showed less ambition in negotiations.
