Short sea shipping at risk from IMO sulphur laws

Justin Stares, Brussels - Wednesday 9 April 2008

Move to low sulphur distillates could hit European short sea shipping. Move to low sulphur distillates could hit European short sea shipping.
NEW sulphur limits agreed at the International Maritime Organization could push more freight onto the road in Europe, the European Community Shipowners’ Association warned today.
 
The cost of moving over to low-sulphur distillate fuels will hit the competitiveness of Europe’s short sea shipping services to the benefit of road haulage, Ecsa said. 

While welcoming last week’s agreement at the IMO marine environment protection committee to reduce limits in emission control areas to 1% by 2010, the owners’ association said it would ultimately have "counterproductive" consequences on the environment. 

"The ambitious timetable presents a considerable challenge for the industry and one which will probably result in significant additional fuel costs," Ecsa said. "There is a potential danger that the additional costs for short sea shipping will result in a shift from the sea to the less environmentally credible land based transport. This environmentally counterproductive consequence will need to be addressed in the context of the application of the IMO Agreement in the EU." 

"The ECAs [emission control areas] are where short sea shipping is operating" said Alfons Guinier, Ecsa secretary general. "The decision you have here might become contradictory with other polices such as promoting a shift from the land to the sea and reducing congestion." Costs to ferry and ro-ro operators "might increase sharply," he said, though he would not venture a figure. 

Short sea shipping has over the last ten years held its own versus road haulage in the EU. Intra-EU shipping services are said to have grown at the same rate as trucking and now account for around 40% of freight carried. Railfreight’s market share has dropped. 

The IMO agreement was however welcomed, in particular because it was likely to remove pressure on the European commission to revise its sulphur directive and introduce regional legislation: "Ecsa believes that the agreement should be enough to satisfy the environmental goals of the EU Commission and European parliament so as to avoid any need to introduce additional EU measures." 

There is a question mark over the availability of low-sulphur fuel, though a clause in the IMO agreement would preclude penalties if a ship could prove it was unable to buy any. 

Emission control areas currently exist in the North and Baltic Seas. Sulphur limits for the rest of the world are more lax. 

Tanker owners’ body Intertanko took credit today for the "historic" agreement. "Intertanko’s proactive proposals in 2006 struck at the root cause of SOx, NOx and PM emissions, calling for a phased introduction of low sulphur cleaner fuels, and leading to furious debate across the industry," the group said in a statement. 

"These proposals became the catalyst which, coupled with wide assessment of the implications and frequently intense and sometimes acrimonious arguments, has finally led to agreement on this package which will result in a significant reduction in harmful emissions from shipping over the coming decade. The original Intertanko submission provided a focus that brought about a more radical approach to the revision process and to the need to find global solutions to increasing regional pressures." 

Sulphur emissions cause acid rain and harm human health.

* Read Lloyd’s List Newsroom Blog – No rest in anti-pollution drive - and join in the debate.
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