EU draft directive revises emissions standards for maritime industry

The European Commission (EU) has proposed to lower the sulfur content of shipping fuels by up to 90% and fine particle emissions by up to 80% by 2020. The proposed legislation revises the Directive on the sulfur content of certain liquid fuels and incorporates standards from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) into a draft directive which will revise Directive 1999/32/EC. Under the proposals, the maximum permissible sulphur content of maritime fuels used in sensitive areas such as the Baltic Sea, the North Sea and the English Channel will fall from the previous level of 1.5 % to 0.1 %, as of January 1, 2015. Other areas are to achieve an even bigger cut, from 4.5 % down to 0.5 % by January 1, 2020. Ships will be allowed to use equivalent technologies such as exhaust gas cleaning systems as an alternative to using low sulfur fuels. (July 15, 2011)