4 April 2009
The USA and Canada have asked the International Maritime Organisation to establish an emissions control area to reduce air pollution in North American port cities. The move is aimed at cutting the higher death rates and increased levels of respiratory illness for residents in these cities. Ships would be required to use lower-polluting fuels within 200 nautical miles of US and Canadian ports. Ships would need to start using very low sulphur fuel from 2015, and new ships must use advanced emission control technologies from 2016. JUST HOURS after a leading environmental panel urged stricter air pollution rules for ships, the US Environmental Protection Agency asked the IMO to ring the country with a buffer zone.
Emissions control areas were established under the IMO's International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL, Annex VI). There are currently emissions control areas in the Baltic and the North Sea, but these do not extend as far as the 200-mile reach of the North American proposal.
Meanwhile, the IMO has been continuing discussions on a new hazardous and noxious substances convention. An earlier convention was agreed in 1996 but has never come into force.
Source: http://www.itfseafarers.org/maritime_news.cfm/newsdetail/3180/region/6/section/0/order/1
No comments:
Post a Comment