The Chinese government is planning to expand the country’s Emission Control Areas (ECA) in a bid to cut emissions from the shipping industry further and enhance environmental protection.
At the “Sulphur Cap 2020, are we ready” conference hosted by BIMCO in Shenzhen on 29 June 2018, Dong Leyi, a state official from China Maritime Safety Administration (MSA), disclosed that the government intends to cover the entire Chinese territorial waters with a 0.5% sulphur cap from 1 January 2019 if approved.
“The next step, according to our investigation and our research, is to spread out the scope of the domestic control areas and add some requirements. For instance, we will under the new plan also control the NOx and VOC emissions,” Dong Leyi told BIMCO at the conference.
Under the government’s plan, all coastal areas within 12 nautical miles from the Chinese coast will be defined as an Emission Control Area where NOx and VOC will be included as well.
The tightening of the plan reflects the Chinese government’s ambition to curb air pollution generated from the shipping industry.
“Firstly, we need to reduce the emissions from ships further and secondly, we need to establish a fair play environment for all ports. That is why we are expanding the plan to include all ports,” Dong Leyi told BIMCO.
Also some river areas will be included in the new plan, such as areas along the Yangtze River.
More news about China’s current ECA plan can be found from the following links:
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