Denmark Plans for Tighter Sulfur Emissions Enforcement
The Danish Environmental Protection Agency and Danish Maritime Authority (EPA and DMA) have jointly published a new plan for enhanced enforcement of IMO Emissions Control Area sulfur emissions.
The announcement follows on considerable success in ECA implementation to date in Europe. DMA says that mid-2015 data suggest a compliance rate of 96 percent in the EU ECA areas, and a 98 percent rate in Danish waters, based on sniffer measurements. A new EU compliance database (THETIS-S) has been established to assist with consistent efforts and centralized reporting across the EU; Danish port authority sampling of bunkers on inbound ships has doubled; and the nation has implemented surveillance from small planes, ships and one main bridge.
The quantity of sulfur in Danish air reportedly fell by 60 percent following ECA implementation, according to data from the Danish Center for Environment and Energy at Aarhus University (DCE) released in October.
The 2016 plan builds on previous experience, and for DMA, improved ECA enforcement will depend on better technology, assistance from bunkers brokers, and more international cooperation among ECA signatory countries.
“We have gained much experience from the implementation of the first action plan from 2014. With the new plan for 2016, we want to extend the cooperation between the Danish authorities and to further strengthen our international cooperation,” said the head of the Danish Maritime Authority, Andreas Nordseth.
DMA also stressed fairness in enforcement for all flag states and port states. Danish authorities have worked within the European Sustainable Shipping Forum to further an even playing field for the nation's shipping firms, and in concert with other ECA partners, the DMA and EPA are working towards specific IMO guidelines for enforcement and penalties – especially beyond 2020/2025, when sulfur regulation goes global.
"The Danish shipowners fully support the new requirements," said Director General Anne H. Steffesen of the Danish Shipowners' Association in October. "Effective international enforcement is crucial to the industry and ensuring equal competitive conditions for all. Remote monitoring from bridges and aircraft can be an important part of ensuring compliance with the rules – especially when stricter requirements take effect worldwide by 2025, making international enforcement even more important."
The northern European success with ECA implementation appears to be a reverse image of prospects for sulfur control within the Mediterranean region. In September, Jordi Vila, head of operations for the Port of Barcelona, suggested that cooperation on a Med ECA is doubtful in the near term. “The realization of a Med ECA is very difficult because the ECA designation has to be unanimous in the [IMO] and will be very hard to achieve. So I would say that, at least in the medium term, the answer is no," he told reporters.