The Port of Barcelona is organising a seminar to take place this month that will look at the impact of future Sulphur Emission Control Area (SECA) regulations on southern European ports.
Currently, in SECAs in the North Sea, Baltic Sea Channel Manga and East and West coasts of the United States, vessels can only sail with a sulphur content of 0.1%, as specified by the European Commission and MARPOL Annex VI regulations.
Within five years, all the maritime borders of the European Union will become SECAs, although the southern Atlantic coast and the Mediterranean are expected to be limited to 0.5% sulphur, the port says.
Experts from the EU and representatives from industries affected – ports, shipping and business – will discuss the consequences of setting up SECAs and how to ensure maritime transport is clean and competitive.
The Port of Barcelona itself has already introduced several initiatives to reduce the impact of port activity including a 'Carbon Zero' programme, promoting the use of LNG and the use of an Eco Calculator to calculate CO2 emissions of logistics chains to help identify more sustainable routes.
The conference will be held at the Barcelona World Trade Centre on 22 October 2015.
