As a week-long meeting of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Pollution Prevention and Response committee opened on Monday, the Clean Arctic Alliance has called for Arctic States to lead other IMO members in supporting a proposal to reduce black carbon emissions from international shipping in the Arctic.
A key paper submitted to the meeting (PPR 13-6), by Denmark, which represents Greenland at the International Maritime Organization, along with France, Germany and the Solomon Islands, proposes a new mandatory Arctic fuel measure for MARPOL Annex VI, requiring that ship s sailing in the Arctic use cleaner fuels with low emissions of black carbon
“This week, IMO member states – especially Arctic countries – must show leadership on the Arctic fuel proposal, which sets out the characteristics of fuels that would be considered suitable for use in the Arctic – so-called polar fuels”, said Dr Sian Prior, Lead Advisor to the Clean Arctic Alliance. “After 15 years of consideration of cleaner fuels by the IMO, north Atlantic coastal nations must now take the lead, by supporting one another in the efforts to clean-up air polluting emissions from international shipping, and bringing other IMO member states on board.”
“This past December saw the lowest Arctic sea ice extent in the 47-year satellite record – melting of the Arctic sea ice results in loss of ice habitat, important for wildlife and Indigenous communities in the Arctic, while the melting of land-ice – glaciers – contributes to rising global sea-levels”, added Mr. Prior. “ Emissions of black carbon from shipping have a disproportionate impact in the Arctic, by contributing to the melt of sea and land-ice leading to global consequences. Black carbon emissions also increase the risk of respiratory and cardio-vascular illnesses in local communities”.
“The characteristics proposed to describe suitable fuels for use in the Arctic include fuel density, viscosity and carbon residue maxima to help limit sooting”, said Bill Hemmings, Black Carbon Advisor to the Clean Arctic Alliance. “Polar fuels will prevent the use of residual fuels or blends including heavy fuel oil (HFO) used by many ships worldwide today, often in conjunction with exhaust gas cleaning systems (scrubbers). As this would lead to the exclusive use of existing, widely available distillate fuels and new fuels, resulting in lower emissions of black carbon, it really is low-hanging fruit for the IMO.”
Scrubbers
At PPR13, the Clean Arctic Alliance is calling on IMO member states to agree to develop a regulation in MARPOL Annex VI to facilitate restricting scrubbers (EGCS, or exhaust gas cleaning systems) in PSSA (Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas) by supporting the proposal in PPR 13/7/2 and to consider extending the scope to ECAs (Emission Control Areas) as proposed in PPR 13/7/3.
“During this week’s meeting, IMO member states must agree that scrubber discharge water seriously affects aquatic ecosystems and therefore agree that coastal states have the right to restrict or ban the discharge”, said Eelco Leemans, Technical Advisor to the Clean Arctic Alliance. “Scrubbers at present justify the continued use of heavy fuel oil (HFO), the dirtiest of all fuels. The shipping industry should get their act together by rapidly moving away from HFO and from fossil fuels in the longer term.”
Sewage
The Clean Arctic Alliance is calling on IMO member states to support stringent sampling and monitoring requirements for sewage treatment systems for existing ships as well as new builds, to ensure that they are fit for purpose, and support yearly review of all sewage treatment systems.
“During this week’s meeting, IMO member states should prioritise taking action to address sewage from existing ships”, said Sarah Bobbe, Senior Manager, Arctic Program at Ocean Conservancy, a member of both the Clean Arctic Alliance. “Some member states do not want to be held accountable for having their existing ships discharge properly treated sewage, even despite a study from the Netherlands stating that 97 percent of ships are not compliant with current regulation. This has to change.”
Black Carbon Emissions in the Arctic
A new report by Energy and Environment Research Associates (EERA), commissioned by the Clean Arctic Alliance, Black Carbon Emissions from Ships in the Arctic 2019 – 2024, provides a comprehensive analysis of tank-to-wake Black Carbon (BC) emissions from Arctic shipping using three geographic definitions: a latitudinal band north of 60oN (excluding the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Alaska), the Polar Code Arctic waters, as well as a broader ecological boundary defined by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP). It estimates BC emissions for the years 2019, 2022 and 2024.
The report examines the seasonal patterns of Arctic shipping routes, profiling ship characteristics, fuel consumption by EEZ and ship type as well as energy use. Historical estimates included in the report show how Arctic shipping activity and associated emissions have changed over time, while forecasts reveal how growth in emissions could affect the Arctic, and inform decisions on fuel choices.
Based on the report, it is clear that distillates are the dominant fuel choice in the Arctic. However, residual fuel use remains present and is increasing as ship traffic grows and receding sea ice opens new waterways. Arctic routes, including the Northern Sea Route (NSR) and North-West Passage (NWP), are seeing increasing traffic that passes through the Polar Code region, as such these activities will be captured when the Arctic HFO ban goes into effect. Full enforcement of the ban is not scheduled until 2029, and because its scope is limited to the Polar Code area, a considerable volume of traffic that affects the ecologically-defined Arctic region may still continue to utilize HFO. Norway’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) has the highest BC emissions within the 60°N and AMAP Arctic areas, but sees minimal reductions (≤ 2.1%) under the ban due to the Polar Code boundary’s limited reach.
(Image of EERA report)