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26 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • JULY 2014 D ue to existing regulations on air exhaust emissions from the International Maritime Organization (IMO), and with the Eu- ropean Union working towards an align- ment with IMO MARPOL Annex VI, the marine industry will need to choose a path on how to achieve compliance, a choice that will have tremendous impact on shipping. Legislation has already had an effect on the fuel markets in regulated areas, as fuel prices are expected to increase even further in 2015 when the 0.1% fuel sul- fur limit enters into force. As an alternative to use low sulfur fu- els (Diesel or Natural Gas), the Finnish company Wärtsilä, as well as others, has developed exhaust after treatment sys- tems which are already in use. January 1, 2015 By this date all diesel engines of all sea-going vessels in the area of the entire North- and Baltic Sea, the English Chan- nel and as well in a 200 nautical miles zone along the U.S. Atlantic and Pacifi c coast line, must be operated either with fuels whose sulfur content is equal to or less than 0.1 percentage by weight, or equipped with an exhaust after treatment device which ensure a corresponding low sulfur emission. Unlike most other adopted portfolios from IMO, this regu- lation is valid not only for new but also for all in use existing seagoing vessels. The sulfur content in ship fuels has been defi ned at 3.5 percent and it is in- tended to be reduced to 0.5 percent by 2020. With a view to “availability,” the mineral industry still has loopholes, and the binding introductory date of this lim- it can be shifted to 2025. The 0.1 percentage by weight sulfur content within the SECA’s will come in force in the beginning of 2015, and the resulting technical consequences for die- MARINE PROPULSION of Exhaust Gases in Shipping Are ship owners prepared to enter SECA zones? By Dipl.-Ing. Peter Pospiech Desulfurization MR #7 (26-31).indd 26 6/30/2014 10:38:47 AM
