SHIPPING lines have been accused of cheating environmental legislation with devices that cover up the amount of pollution vessels dump into the sea, reports the London Independent
SHIPPING lines have been accused of cheating environmental legislation with devices that cover up the amount of pollution vessels dump into the sea, reports the London Independent. More than GBP9.7 million (US$11.9 million) has been spent on devices called open-loop scrubbers which remove noxious fumes from the exhaust of ships which run on heavy fuel oil, said the report.
Sulphur emitted by vessels is simply re-routed and expelled into the water around the ships. The scrubbers not only increase the amount of pollution entering the water but also the amount of carbon dioxide in the air, said the report.
DNV GL, the world's largest ship classification society, says a total of 3,756 ships have currently been fitted with the scrubbers.
The UN's International Maritime Organisation (IMO) told the Independent it had already 'adopted strict criteria for discharge of washwater from exhaust gas cleaning systems'.
The organisation also said it would be 'undertaking a review of the 2015 guidelines on exhaust gas cleaning systems. The guidelines include, among other things, washwater discharge standards'.
WORLD SHIPPING
