Countries within the European Union along with Mediterranean littoral states have come together to lodge an official proposal with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to make the Mediterranean an emission control area (ECA) for sulphur oxides.
Long discussed, the official bid now is likely to fast track the process with the Mediterranean joining the likes of the Baltic and the North Sea as ECAs.
The document submitted to the IMO claims to demonstrate the need to prevent, reduce and control emissions of sulphur oxides and particulate matter from ships.
“The adoption of the proposed Med SOX ECA will result in significant reductions in ambient levels of air pollution in the Mediterranean Sea, as a whole, and in the Mediterranean coastal States, which will achieve substantial benefits to human health and the environment,” the 117-page document states.
