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Global Shipping Must Curb 'Unchecked' Pollution
by Staff Writers
March 22, 2007

WASHINGTON - Ocean-going vessels now belch out more of the major air pollutant sulfur dioxide than all of the world's cars, trucks and buses combined, according to a study released Thursday.

The group behind the report, the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), also said the shipping industry emits more of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide than many industrialized nations.

The ICCT, comprising transport and air quality experts from around the world, called on the industry voluntarily to clean up its act and also submit to tough standards as part of efforts to combat global warming.

"International ships are one of the world's largest, virtually uncontrolled source of air pollution," said Alan Lloyd, the ICCT's president and former secretary of California's Environmental Protection Agency. "Air pollution from diesel trucks and buses in Europe, Japan, and the US has declined steadily for over a decade. At the same time, air pollution from international ships is rising virtually unchecked," he said.

The study said the sulfur dioxide (SO2) content of marine diesel fuel is an average of 27,000 parts per million (ppm), compared to just 10-15 ppm for road fuels in Europe, Japan and the United States. SO2 is blamed for causing respiratory illnesses and acid rain, and for forming atmospheric particles that choke off air visibility.

The ICCT cited recent estimates as saying at least 17 percent of emissions of nitrogen oxide come from ships, which can contribute more than 25 percent of the pollutant in some port cities and coastal nations.

The group said the International Maritime Organization (IMO) had been "slow to take advantage of the best available technologies and fuels," with its only action on ship emissions adopted in 1997 and implemented two years ago.

However, the IMO is debating whether to adopt a new round of emission standards for international ships leading up to meetings in April and June, the ICCT noted.

It called on the IMO to mandate a 90-percent reduction in marine diesel's sulfur content, use up-to-date technologies to govern emission standards, and set new standards to address the impact of climate change.

Axel Friedrich, co-author of the report and a senior official in Germany's Federal Environment Agency, said all that was required was an industry will to make changes.

"We've found that the public health and environmental consequences are clear and compelling and the technology is available now to dramatically lower air pollution from international shipping," he said.

"It's time for the IMO to make overdue changes that will save lives, help millions of people breathe easier, and reduce global warming."

Agence France-Presse

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Of course, it also so happens that sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides happen to be two pollutants against which effective action has been taken on land. Remember 'Acid Rain' in the 1980s? - basically the power stations (and I suppose vehicle engines as well, though my memory tells me that coal-fired power-stations were the main source) have been cleaned up in the years since then, hence the nice downwards line on the first section of the graph.

I understand the real problem is the last 100 or so miles of a Container's 'voyage' from dock to warehouse by lorry which causes more pollution than the whole trip on a vessel from '000s miles away shared between all those others aboard.

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Originally posted by PamM:
How can they say "now"? when their graphs show it isn't predicted until 2020.
Pam

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Originally posted by PamM:
How can they say "now"? when their graphs show it isn't predicted until 2020.

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Cars, trucks and buses trail cargo ships as air polluters
A study finds that while land vehicles are cutting emissions, seafaring vessels are spewing sulfur oxide 'virtually unchecked.'
By Janet Wilson, Times Staff Writer
March 23, 2007

Ocean-going vessels produce greater quantities of sulfur oxide air pollutants than all the world's cars, trucks and buses combined, according to a study released Thursday.

The report by the International Council on Clean Transportation calls for international regulators to move aggressively to curb emissions from "bunker fuel" used by freight vessels that contains an average 27,000 parts per million of sulfur. U.S. standards for diesel trucks and other vehicles limit sulfur fuels to just 15 parts per million to protect public health. One kind of sulfur oxide, sulfur dioxide, can quickly kill if too much is inhaled rapidly. Chronic exposure to lower levels has been linked to respiratory problems.

The report is especially relevant for Southern California. More than 40% of retail goods imported to the U.S. arrive on ships that dock at Los Angeles and Long Beach, often after passing coastal communities in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.

"International ships are one of the world's largest, virtually uncontrolled source of air pollution," said Alan C. Lloyd, president of the International Council on Clean Transportation and former secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency. "Air pollution from diesel trucks and buses in Europe, Japan, and the U.S. has declined steadily for over a decade. At the same time, air pollution from international ships is rising virtually unchecked."

The council comprises about 20 scholars and current or former air-quality and transportation regulators from the U.S., South America, Asia and Europe. They include Margo Oge, head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's office of transportation and air quality. A spokesman said the EPA had yet to review the report.

The authors relied on peerreviewed air pollution studies, their own work and government pollution and freight data, according to the council's executive director, Drew Kodjak.

The report found that in 2001, heavy-duty diesel trucks, buses and cars burned more than a billion metric tons of fuel, and emitted 2.2 million metric tons of sulfur oxide. The same year, ocean-going vessels burned 280 million tons of fuel, far less, but emitted 3.4 million metric tons of sulfur oxide, about 17% of the global total.

Ships are also responsible for 3.6 million to 6.5 million metric tons of nitrogen oxide, another pollutant.

The report calls on the International Maritime Organization, an independent branch of the United Nations, to gradually cut allowable sulfur oxide levels by 90%, and allowable nitrogen oxide levels by 95%. In addition, they said, international limits should be developed for fine particles of soot and for carbon dioxide, the leading greenhouse gas widely believed to be contributing to global warming.

International Maritime Organization spokeswoman Natasha Brown said that she had not seen the report but that her group had been discussing improved air-quality standards.

The key committee that could approve changes to the international treaty that covers air pollutants from ships will meet in July, but the soonest any changes could take effect would be in 2009, she said. One hundred thirty-nine member nations could be affected if they sign on. The U.S. has not signed the original international pollution controls adopted in 1997.

Brown said that although the international body had been criticized for adopting "lowest common denominator" regulations, they were the maximum achievable by a group of so many nations.

"There's no point in having standards so high that no one will agree to them," she said. "Nonetheless, there is widespread recognition that improvements need to be made" to reduce sulfur oxide and nitrogen oxide.

Noting that ships carry 90% of the world's freight, Brown said it was not surprising that they would have higher levels of some pollutants.

But Kodjak noted the data showed ships were using far less fuel while emitting more sulfur oxide than land vehicles, and "dramatic" amounts of nitrogen oxide.

"No matter how much freight they ship, the technology is available to make improvements," he said. "The reason why there is such a disparity is not because of the amount of freight they move, but because they've largely been unregulated."

The report did conclude that a decade or more might be needed to implement changes in oil refineries to produce cleaner fuel and to install more-effective pollution-control equipment on ships that the international body might approve.

Los Angeles Times

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Cheers

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"As one of the most environmentally friendly container vessels ever built, the PS-class vessels – to which EMMA MÆRSK belongs - have an advanced energy efficiency system, waste heat recovery system, and an electronically controlled engine; features that contribute to fewer emissions through a reduced total fuel consumption of up to ten per cent.

In addition, the hull is painted with a biocide-free silicone-based antifouling paint. This initiative reduces the impact on the marine environment and is expected to lower fuel consumption as well.

The inboard protected fuel tanks are a preventive initiative that guard against the possibility of oil spills.

Whilst shipping continues to be the most environmentally friendly form of transport, Maersk Line has consistently innovated and improved both the technological and environmental performance of its vessels.

EMMA MÆRSK is one of a total of 8 vessels currently under construction with the final one due for delivery to Maersk Line in January 2008. EMMA MÆRSK was named in August 2007 at Odense Steel Shipyard, Denmark. At 11,000 TEU she and her sister vessels are the largest container vessels in the world.

A PS-class vessel's horsepower equals that of 1,156 family cars
A PS-class vessel travels 66 kilometres using 1 kWh of energy per ton of cargo.
A jumbo jet travels half a kilometre using the same amount of energy per ton of cargo
The anchor of a PS-class vessel weighs 29 tons, equivalent to five adult African elephants
A PS-class vessel sails approximately 170,000 nautical miles every year. That is equal to 7.5 times around the world
A PS-class vessel can carry 11,000 full 20-foot containers. That is equal to a train 71 kilometres long
Combined, the accommodation and bridge of a PS-class vessel are as high as a twelve storey building
The newly developed, more environmentally friendly silicone paint used below the waterline on a PS-class vessel creates a streamlining effect, saving an estimated 1,200 tons of bunker fuel per year
A PS-class vessel is equipped with over 40,000 metres of pipes. If you lined them up and ran the length of them, you would almost run a marathon
A PS-class vessel is equipped with a waste heat recovery system, saving up to ten percent of main engine power. That is equal to the average annual electrical consumption of 5,000 European households"

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Jerry

Seattle, March 16, 2007 - In its latest effort to improve coastal air quality and limit the environmental impact of world trade growth, global container shipping leader APL announced today it will convert vessels to cleaner-burning, low-sulfur fuel when they call the Port of Seattle.

APL, the world’s eighth-largest carrier and a long-recognized leader in Transpacific trade, announced that all vessels in its Pacific South 1 Service (PS1) will burn low-sulfur fuel in auxiliary engines while berthed in Seattle. Auxiliary engines provide power to ships when they’re tied up at port.

Speaking from the bridge of the APL Coral in the Port of Seattle, APL Americas President John Bowe said conversion to low-sulfur fuel could reduce diesel particulate matter emissions 75% while APL ships are in port. Emissions of sulfur oxides (SOx) -- a contributing factor in the creation of acid rain -- could be cut 80%, Bowe added. Over the course of a year, 3.5 tons of particulate matter emissions will be eliminated and 30 tons of SOx.

“We’re taking this step unilaterally because it’s the right thing to do and absolutely essential if we’re going to meet the growing demands of containerized trade,” said Bowe, who was joined by Dennis McLerran, Executive Director of the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, and Port of Seattle Commission President John Creighton in making the announcement. “There is no regulatory requirement for low-sulfur fuel in Seattle,” Bowe added, “but we’ve got a responsibility to soften our impact on the communities we serve.”

It was the second major environmental initiative from APL in the past three months. Last December, the carrier announced conversion of the 23 vessels in its California services to low-sulfur fuel. At the same time it announced a partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency and California air quality boards to test innovative fuel emulsification technology that could significantly reduce pollutants from vessel exhaust.

"We're extremely pleased with APL's commitment to use lower-sulfur fuels when calling on Seattle,” said McLerran. “As our ports grow it is important that we take steps to reduce emissions so that growth can be sustainable and protect our environment. Reducing diesel emissions is a high priority for us as it will help reduce air toxics risk and the adverse health effects of breathing dirty air such as asthma. We applaud APL for its leadership and environmental stewardship in initiating this low-sulfur fuel program."

Added Creighton: "Protecting air and water quality in the Puget Sound basin is a top priority of the Port Commission, and we're proud to count APL as one of the port's key economic and environmental partners. We commend APL for their leadership in taking voluntary steps to reduce air emissions."

Vessel emissions are the latest target in APL’s effort to curb pollution, Bowe said, but not the only one. He pointed out that the carrier has undertaken numerous landside air initiatives at its West Coast marine terminals in Seattle, Los Angeles and Oakland, including: