New study on compliance in ECAs
A new Welsh University report has added to the worry that the new international air regulations controlling air pollution from ships may turn out to be ineffective.
The research, funded by the UK’s Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) and carried out by the Seafarers International Research Centre (SIRC) at the Cardiff School of Social Sciences, looks at enforcement issues surrounding Emission Control Areas (ECAS).
ECAS were set up to regulate sulphur, nitrogen and particulate matter from ships – An ECA was first set up in the Baltic in 2006, the North Sea in 2007 and North America in 2012.
Having observed a multitude of ship inspections in the UK and Sweden and interviewed over 50 stakeholders in the industry, the report concludes that although the vast majority of ship owners are complying with the regulations, there is evidence that a minority of berthing ships in the UK are burning non-compliant fuel.
The report recommends that methods are used to increase compliance such as the MCA’s fuel sampling and testing kits.
It also looks into the future enforcement of the areas and weighs up the advantages and disadvantages of a possible fuel levy or ships’ emissions trading scheme.
Two separate reports on compliance and enforcement issues have been published on the SIRC website
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