Air Pollution, Climate Change, and Port
State Control
Maximo Q. Mejia, Jr.
Abstract This chapter examines the vital role that port states play, through inspections under the regime of port state control, in the reduction of air pollution and the
mitigation of climate change, particularly by ensuring ships’ compliance with Annex
VI “Regulations for the Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships” of the International
Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), 1973, as
amended. This chapter also revisits the effectiveness of port state control as a
compliance mechanism within the context of MARPOL Annex VI.
The shipping industry is at the cusp of the so-called “2020 sulphur cap,”
1 with
arguably one of the most far-reaching implications from a marine environmental
protection standard to be implemented in decades—a standard that limits the sulphur
content of fuel oil used on board ships to no more than 0.50% m/m (mass by mass).
This global standard enters into force in the year 2020 and leaves more than 70,000
ships with, in the main, few choices for compliance: (a) switch from high-sulphur
fuel oil (HSFO) to very-low-sulphur fuel oil or compliant fuel blends (0.50%
sulphur), marine gas oil (MGO), or distillates, (b) retrofit vessels to use alternative
fuels such as LNG or other sulphur-free fuels, or (c) install exhaust gas cleaning
systems (scrubbers), which allow ships to operate on regular HSFO.
2 Regardless of
the option, it is generally accepted that compliance with the cap “will significantly
reduce the amount of sulphur oxides emanating from ships and should have major
M. Q. Mejia, Jr. (*)
World Maritime University Malmö, Sweden
e-mail: mm@wmu.se
1 Regulation 14.1.3 of Annex VI of the MARPOL Convention stipulates that the sulphur content of
any fuel oil used on board ships operating outside designated emission control areas shall not
exceed 0.50% m/m on or after 1 January 2020 (the current sulphur standard stands at 3.5% m/m, in
force since 2012). The International Maritime Organization (IMO) affirmed this through Resolution
MEPC 280(70) following the 70th session of its Marine Environment Protection Committee held in
October 2016. See IMO (2016a).
2 Topali and Psaraftis (2019), p. 4; DNV GL (2019), p. 3; Vierth et al. (2015), p. 126.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
P. K. Mukherjee et al. (eds.), Maritime Law in Motion, WMU Studies in Maritime
Affairs 8, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31749-2_24
525
State Control
Maximo Q. Mejia, Jr.
Abstract This chapter examines the vital role that port states play, through inspections under the regime of port state control, in the reduction of air pollution and the
mitigation of climate change, particularly by ensuring ships’ compliance with Annex
VI “Regulations for the Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships” of the International
Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), 1973, as
amended. This chapter also revisits the effectiveness of port state control as a
compliance mechanism within the context of MARPOL Annex VI.
The shipping industry is at the cusp of the so-called “2020 sulphur cap,”
1 with
arguably one of the most far-reaching implications from a marine environmental
protection standard to be implemented in decades—a standard that limits the sulphur
content of fuel oil used on board ships to no more than 0.50% m/m (mass by mass).
This global standard enters into force in the year 2020 and leaves more than 70,000
ships with, in the main, few choices for compliance: (a) switch from high-sulphur
fuel oil (HSFO) to very-low-sulphur fuel oil or compliant fuel blends (0.50%
sulphur), marine gas oil (MGO), or distillates, (b) retrofit vessels to use alternative
fuels such as LNG or other sulphur-free fuels, or (c) install exhaust gas cleaning
systems (scrubbers), which allow ships to operate on regular HSFO.
2 Regardless of
the option, it is generally accepted that compliance with the cap “will significantly
reduce the amount of sulphur oxides emanating from ships and should have major
M. Q. Mejia, Jr. (*)
World Maritime University Malmö, Sweden
e-mail: mm@wmu.se
1 Regulation 14.1.3 of Annex VI of the MARPOL Convention stipulates that the sulphur content of
any fuel oil used on board ships operating outside designated emission control areas shall not
exceed 0.50% m/m on or after 1 January 2020 (the current sulphur standard stands at 3.5% m/m, in
force since 2012). The International Maritime Organization (IMO) affirmed this through Resolution
MEPC 280(70) following the 70th session of its Marine Environment Protection Committee held in
October 2016. See IMO (2016a).
2 Topali and Psaraftis (2019), p. 4; DNV GL (2019), p. 3; Vierth et al. (2015), p. 126.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
P. K. Mukherjee et al. (eds.), Maritime Law in Motion, WMU Studies in Maritime
Affairs 8, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31749-2_24
525