At this week’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) held at the London headquarters of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the timeframe for the Mediterranean becoming the fifth sulphur oxides emission control area (ECA) has been agreed.
As of May 1, 2025 the sea basin linking Europe with Africa will require all ships to use fuel with a sulphur limit of just 0.1%, as opposed to the standard 0.5%. This follows a long battle stretching over more than 10 years waged by many municipalities such as Barcelona and Marseille to rein in pollution from ships.
Other ECAs around the world include the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, the North American area covering designated coastal areas off the United States and Canada, and the United States Caribbean Sea area around Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands.
MEPC is set to wrap this evening with Splash bringing readers a rundown of the key takeaways.
