Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. announced that it has entered into a joint study to equip in-service vessels with SOX scrubber system, to ensure compliance with upcoming international environmental regulations. The scrubbers eliminate sulfur dioxide (SOX) from exhaust gas, allowing vessels to meet international treaty standards for SOX emissions without using low-sulfur fuel. Also participating in the project are Nippon Kaiji Kyokai, Minaminippon Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. , Sanwa Dock Co. Ltd., and Wärtsilä Japan Ltd.
International trade relies on transportation by sea, as about 85 percent of the freight volumes are shipped globally by vessels. But while maritime is widely regarded as the most environmentally benign of any transport system, maritime transport can cause a diverse environmental burden: It includes, beside the potential for damages and leaks, the inflow of waste water and, in particular, the emissions of air pollutants. Furthermore the improper cleaning of oil sludge, as well as the transfer of organisms into foreign ecosystems within ballast water.
Following the implementation of exhaust gas scrubbers on its self-unloading bulk carrier M/V Hon. James L. Oberstar, the Interlake Steamship Company has announced its plans to expand its emission-reduction efforts to one-third of its fleet by installing similar scrubber systems on the M/V Lee A. Tregurtha and M/V James R. Barker early next year. In April 2015, Interlake became the first U.S.-flag fleet to test freshwater scrubbers on the Great Lakes when the system became operational on the 806-foot Oberstar.
Wärtsilä has received an order for Hybrid Scrubber Systems to clean the exhaust emissions from three 2,500 TEU container vessels. The installation has been ordered by a major European owner and operator and will be carried out at the Jinhai Heavy Industry Co., Ltd in China. The contract was signed in March 2015 and the systems are scheduled for delivery in December 2015. The scrubber system, which comprises two scrubber units, will be installed to clean the exhaust from both the main and auxiliary engines.
In a move intended to help ease the financial burden on shipowners seeking to install scrubber systems to meet sulphur emissions legislation, Wärtsilä and Clean Marine Energy (Europe) Ltd. (CME) have signed a collaboration agreement that will provide a funding solution to drive the uptake of exhaust gas cleaning technology. The financing solution, similar to those in the building environment space, enables a shipowner to repay the cost of the scrubber system installation via a fuel adder, i.e.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) authorized formal exemptions by Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines that allow for the enlargement of the cruise line’s research program to develop and install exhaust gas scrubber systems on its cruise ships. Under the exemption, as articulated in MARPOL, Royal Caribbean will expand the program from six to 19 ships. This emission control technology will be used in waters surrounding U.S. coasts, known as Emission Control Areas (ECAs). Because emissions from oceangoing vessels can harm air quality on land, the U.S.