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Maritime Journal -
Trade association Interferry says that ferry operators in northern Europe face a near impossible choice in trying to meet the 2015 deadline for ultra low sulphur emissions from bunker fuel.
The association also warns that the low sulphur legislation will prompt an environmentally damaging modal shift from short-sea to overland transport and pose severe financial implications for the overall European economy.
Under pending IMO and soon to be agreed European Union (EU) environmental requirements, vessels operating in the Baltic, North Sea and Channel Emission Control Areas (ECAs) will have to comply with a 0.1% limit on fuel sulphur content.
Interferry says it acknowledges ferry operators’ responsibility to reduce emissions and supports the move to lower sulphur limits globally by 2020 - but claims that the 2015 timescale is "mission impossible" due to unsustainable cost increases.
It argues that, despite the ferry industry’s efforts to develop alternative technologies and feasible alternative fuels, abatement technologies and financial support will not be available or sufficient enough to avoid a modal shift from sea to road.
These alternatives are the elements in a ‘toolbox’ of technical and financial solutions proposed by the European Commission (EC).
The toolbox suggests the use of ‘clean’ LNG fuel or, for vessels that continue to run on heavy fuel oil, the use of scrubbers - exhaust gas cleaning systems.
It also points operators towards EU funding initiatives and state aid. Interferry responds that these are not realistic options because the organisation states that it is widely recognised in Europe that LNG is only an option for new vessels due to the prohibitive cost of converting existing vessels, and in any case the LNG fuel supply infrastructure is inadequate.
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