Baltic news
Baltic Sea states call for tough NOx controls
2459, 10/01/08
Tighter international regulations are needed to prevent a predicted sharp increase in nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from ships in the Baltic Sea, countries bordering it argue in a letter sent to the International maritime organisation (IMO) on Thursday.
The Helsinki commission (Helcom), a body created to protect the Baltic environment, sent its letter to the IMO's marine environment protection committee, which is due to approve new NOx and sulphur oxide (SOx) emission limits under the Marpol convention in March (EED 17/10/07 http://www.endseuropedaily.com/24101).
"The call for stricter IMO requirements is part of the Helcom Baltic Sea action plan to drastically reduce pollution to the sea and restore its good ecological status by 2021," Helcom executive secretary Anne Christine Brusendorff said (EED 15/11/07 http://www.endseuropedaily.com/24293).
Helcom's submission is based on a study by research group ShipNODeff, which calculates that the pollutant's rise can be curbed only by limiting the NOx emissions of ship engines installed from 2015 to a fifth of their level today. Nitrogen oxides contribute to the massive algal blooms that periodically blight the Baltic sea.
Follow-up: Helcom http://www.helcom.fi/,
plus press release http://www.helcom.fi/press_office/news_helcom/en_GB/HELCOM_submission_to_IMO/
and IMO submission
ENDS Europe Daily is Europe's leading environmental news service. A free trial is available by clicking on the following link: http://www.endseuropedaily.com/web/helcom.