IMO moves to tighten control sea, air pollution

IMO moves to tighten control sea, air pollution    The marine environment protection committee of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has taken several steps to tighten rules to prevent or reduce pollution at sea in the future.
   Under pressure from its European members to protect European shores from tanker spills like that of the “Erika” in 1999, the IMO committee agreed to designate the western European waters as a “particularly sensitive sea area.” The designation makes it possible to apply a more stringent traffic control on ships entering the area. A European Commission proposal to introduce a western European reporting system for ships carrying certain types of oil will also be discussed at an IMO meeting in December, a spokeswoman for the London-based agency said.
   Other topics on which the IMO committee has worked include air pollution by ships, the recycling of old vessels and the discharge of harmful aquatic organisms in ballast water.
   The IMO said there are seven designated particularly sensitive sea areas: the Great Barrier Reef, Australia; the Sabana-Camag'ey Archipelago in Cuba; Malpelo Island, Colombia; around the Florida Keys; the Wadden Sea, in Denmark, Germany and Netherlands; Paracas National Reserve, Peru; and western European waters.
   The IMO marine environment protection committee will review guidelines for particularly sensitive sea areas.
   The revised annex I regulations to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) for the prevention of pollution by oil was adopted by the committee and is expected to enter into force on Jan. 1, 2007.
   The committee has also designated the Oman area of the Arabian Seas as a “special area.” The other special areas in annex I are: Mediterranean Sea area; Baltic Sea area; Black Sea area; Red Sea area; “Gulfs” area; Gulf of Aden area; Antarctic area; and North West European Waters. In the special areas, there are stricter controls on discharge of oily wastes.
   On air pollution, the IMO’s “Regulations for the Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships,” contained in annex VI to MARPOL will enter into force on May 19, 2005.
   The marine environment protection committee is working on guidelines on a carbon dioxide (CO2) indexing scheme. One purpose of developing guidelines on CO2 emission indexing is to develop a simple system that could be used voluntarily by ship operators during a trial period, the IMO said.
   “The committee agreed that a CO2 indexing scheme should be simple and easy to apply and take into consideration matters related to (the) construction and operation of the ship, and market-based incentives,” the IMO said.
   The committee believes IMO guidelines on greenhouse gas emissions have to address all six greenhouse gases covered by the Kyoto Protocol: CO2; methane (CH4); nitrous oxide (N2O); hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs); perfluorocarbons (PFCs); and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6).
   On the question of the recycling of ships, the IMO is considering a policy of making compulsory certain of its current voluntary guidelines. A new IMO instrument could be developed to provide “legally binding and globally applicable ship recycling regulations,” the London-based organization said. A reporting system for ships destined for recycling is also under preliminary discussion.