Mediterranean inches closer to become 0.10% sulphur area after IMO approval

A Mediterranean Emission Control Area (MedECA) could come into force from 2025 after International Maritime Organisation (IMO) members approved it at this week's 78th Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) meeting.

PHOTO: Aerial view of the Port of Barcelona. Getty Images

Following the initial approval, the proposal needs a final nod at the IMO's upcoming 79th MEPC meeting scheduled for December.

Regulating the waters proposed in the MedECA has backing from 22 countries including major port nations like France, Greece, Spain and Turkey.

Earlier this year, Mediterranean and EU countries lodged a formal request to the IMO to designate the sea as an ECA for sulphur oxides. Applying a 0.10% sulphur cap on emissions from vessels engaged in international shipping in the Mediterranean Sea area will achieve substantial results at a reasonable cost, the countries said in their proposal.

If it gets a green light at MEPC 79, the MedECA is expected to come into force from 1 January 2025. It will join the Baltic Sea and North Sea as ECAs in the European region. The two other 0.1% sulphur ECAs cover North America and the US Caribbean Sea.

An ECA would certainly boost demand for LSMGO, and possibly ULSFO, in the Mediterranean region.

As these fuel grades typically trade at premiums over VLSFO - the most consumed fuel in the Mediterranean today - it could potentially make scrubber economics more favourable and trigger more installations of these systems to desulphurise and continue to consume discounted bunker fuel oils.

It could also help spur uptake of low- and zero-sulphur alternative fuels such as LNG, methanol, ammonia and hydrogen.