|
Under pressure
by Lena Lorenc
The Baltic shipping sector is trying to foresee the consequences of the
IMO’s 2008 decision to establish new regulations regarding sulphur content
in marine fuels and prepare for them. Increased fuel expenses, logistics
costs and the need for large investments into low-emission technology
and infrastructure – this outcome is unquestionable. But is that all?
TIhe Emission Control Area (ECA),
constituting only the Baltic Sea,
North Sea and the English Channel,
is an area covering about 0.3% of
the world’s water surface. These regions are
declared as SECAs, unlike the Black Sea, the
Mediterranean and the East Atlantic.
“The global sulphur and nitrogen dioxide
regulations of the Marpol Annex VI was
a success for the IMO, but the even more
stringent regional sulphur rules of the Sulphur
Emission Control Area was a decision
taken in darkness since no impact assessment
was conducted prior to the decision.
The SECA regulation will lead to trade-off
effects and enormous negative competiveness
implications, which should make all
politicians shiver” – begins an article entitled
“Lower sulphur levels in shipping -
not sustainable” by Karolina Boholm, advisor
to the Industrial Policy Department
of Swedish Forest Industries Federation.
And it won’t be far off to state that almost
the whole shipping industry which operates
within the SECA nods its head to this
statement, if not shivers in the face of what
the future might bring.
[read more]
Is LNG-mania healthy?
by Marek Błuś
The campaign for LNG-fuelled engines in many respects reminds of historical campaigns for other innovations
in shipping – for nuclear ships, gas turbine, air cushion vehicles or mechanical sails. In all cases lots of
words were used with minor practical effect. And the whole mass of words has common features – some facts
are left unsaid and others are underlined without compatibility, probably for propaganda purposes.
In the article “Greener shipping in the
Baltic – The best solution is LNG” (BTJ
4/2011) we find information that the BSR
“constitutes over 11% of the global shipping
trade volume.” Even if this figure were
true it is not relevant to the subject of environmental
issues and misleads outsiders, who
might think that this number also represents
the Baltic’s share in global shipping emissions.
If we were to look for the adequate proportions
in transport statistics, only one set of
data seems to be proper – a transport work,
because in order to cause emissions, the volume
has to be moved. And the BSR generates
only 0.9% (9 per mile) of the global shipping
transport work! Consequently, the first question
is born: why is the whole world so interested
in such a small amount of emissions and
enacts special laws for the Baltic Sea?
[read more]
We will monitor the shipping sector
Interview with Siim Kallas,
Vice-President of the European Commission
by Lena Lorenc
Climate and environment challenges are
among the crucial problems the transport
sector is nowadays confronted with.
What are the most crucial EU measures
designed to improve the environmental
condition of the European seas?
Preserving the environment is indeed a key
pillar in the development of a sustainable maritime
transport. The environmental protection
of the sea is a broad concept, which covers both
prevention of pollution and response to pollution.
As regards pollution prevention, let me
mention a few examples, such as reducing the
content of sulphur in marine fuels – we have
just proposed to amend Directive 1999/32/EC
regarding this matter, to reduce the sulphur
emitted from maritime transport in sensitive
areas, such as the Baltic Sea. We have also in
place legislation which enhances the availability
and use of reception facilities in ports to handle
ship-generated waste and cargo residues, and
we are currently reviewing it. Moreover, the
IMO decided that all oil tankers built from 1996
onwards should have a double hull. The EU negotiated
a faster phase-out and secured international
acceptance for its position at IMO. Regulation
417/2002/EC set a timetable for phasing
out single-hull oil tankers worldwide and the
introduction of double-hull tankers. These offer
better protection for the environment in the
event of an accident. As regards our initiatives
in terms of response to pollution, together with
the European Maritime Safety Agency we have
developed the CleanSeaNet service, which provides
near-real-time satellite information on oil
spills. EMSA can also mobilise ships, at the request
of Member States, to help clean the sea in
case of an oil-spill.
[read more]
Incentives to act
by Åsa Andersson, Pauli Merriman, Ottilia Thoreson
There is a need for bold, high-level political leadership to address the many
challenges the Baltic faces. Words and agreements, however, cannot save
it without the delivery and follow-through of the promises made.
T he WWF Baltic Ecoregion Programme
(BEP), comprising of WWF and partner
organizations in each of the nine
coastal Baltic Sea countries, has been
working for decades to protect the Baltic marine
environment and ensure the sustainable
use of its resources. In 2007 WWF began to
evaluate the degree to which governments were
delivering upon their stated commitments – in
the form of ‘Scorecard’ reports. Unfortunately,
one of the key conclusions from these reports
was that there was a growing gap between the
statements and commitments made by governments
and the corresponding actions needed to
actually deliver upon their promises. The latest
WWF Baltic Sea Scorecard report, launched in
August 2011, measured each of the nine coastal
Baltic Sea countries’ performance in implementing
some of the most important international,
regional and European agreements and
conventions designed to manage and protect
the Baltic Sea. On the basis of the commitments
made in these agreements, the 2011 scorecard
assessed a limited number of key indicators
within five focal areas of crucial importance to
the Baltic and its health: eutrophication, hazardous
substances, the protection of biodiversity,
maritime activities, and integrated sea use
management (a more integrated approach to
planning and managing the use of the sea and
its resources). These five areas are all interlinked
and dependent on each other. Negative or positive
trends within one area will have immediate
effects on the other areas as well. Special consideration
was to grade Russia on a similar scale,
even though all agreements and policies did not
apply, as Russia is not an EU Member.
[read more]
Ships’ sewage discharge: banned
by Przemysław Myszka
The Baltic Sea is dying from suffocation. This process, called eutrophication, rapidly speeded up in the 1 50s
when the use of fertilizers, most notably nitrogen and phosphorus, was oversized in agriculture.
Anthropogenic activities (apart from
farming also human sewage, urban
runoff, industrial effluent, fossil fuel
combustion) have doubled the nitrogen
and tripled the phosphorus flow in the
environment, compared to natural values. A
surplus of these chemicals has started to soak
into rivers and then to the sea. This has led
to a bursting increase in phytoplankton and
zooplankton. The enormous overgrowth of
both has resulted in a colossal amount of their
remains putrefying at the bottom of the sea.
Moreover, the Baltic Sea is a very calm area of
water, so brackish water gathers undisturbed
at the lowermost part of the sea, making it a
splendid environment for bacteria using the
available oxygen which then produce large
quantities of toxic substances, such as hydrogen
sulphide, methane and ammonia, deadly
for most of the species living in the Baltic. Another
feature of the Baltic calmness is that every
drop of water getting into the sea stays there
for about 40 years, so it’s very easy to pollute it,
but hard to heal. What’s more, eutrophication
also causes harmful algal blooms, which are
destroying the aquatic offshore and onshore
life as well as are dangerous for humans.
[read more]
|