Sulfur dioxide emissions from ships touring EU ports have been reduced by 66 % since 2010 with the implementation of a new shipping policy, which brought about low-sulfur requirements for ships, the EU Commission informed Tuesday citing research data.
According to the new policy, all ships berthed or anchored in EU harbors have been required to lower the threshold of permitted sulfur content from 4.5 percent by weight to less than 0.1 percent.
Analyses of air quality in Mediterranean harbors, conducted by researchers at the EU Commission’s Joint Research Centre before and after the new policy entered into force, indicate that in two years concentrations of sulfur dioxide have been cut in half.
Moreover, the data found in the research have been compared to the measurements from other non-EU ports that haven’t introduced such measures which further confirmed the effect of the new policy.
“This shows that the decreases in sulfur dioxide are a direct consequence of the application of the EU requirements,” the Commission said.
As reported by Reuters, based on the research it can be confirmed that the main pollutants in the harbors were ships, which emitted high level of sulfur and other related chemicals.
Over the last 40 years numerous measures have been undertake to raise global awareness on the importance of reducing detrimental effects of sulfur dioxide emissions to environment.
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World Maritime News Staff, August 17, 2012