Mediterranean to become 0.10% sulphur area from 2025
A 0.10% sulphur cap on vessel emissions in the Mediterranean Sea has been approved by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and will come into force from 1 May 2025.
PHOTO: The Port of Piraeus in Athens, Greece. Getty Images
The Mediterranean Sea Emission Control Area for Sulphur Oxides and Particulate Matter proposal was adopted by the IMO at this week’s 79th Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) meeting.
Earlier this year, Mediterranean and EU countries lodged a formal request to the IMO to designate the sea as an ECA for sulphur oxides. The proposal was later given initial approval during the 78th MEPC meeting in June. It has been formally adopted now.
Mediterranean Emission Control Area (MedECA) has received backing from counties regulating the waters, including major port nations like France, Greece, Spain and Turkey. It now joins the Baltic Sea and North Sea as ECAs in the European region. The two other 0.1% sulphur ECAs in the world cover North America and the US Caribbean Sea.
The 0.10% sulphur cap will certainly boost demand for low sulphur grades such as LSMGO, and possibly ULSFO, in the Mediterranean region. These fuels typically trade at premiums over VLSFO - the most commonly used fuel in the Mediterranean today - and could make scrubber investments more appealing to shipowners.
It could also help spur uptake of low- and zero-sulphur alternative fuels such as LNG, methanol, ammonia and hydrogen.
By Nithin Chandran
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