Reducing the sulphur content of marine fuels

IMO’s MARPOL Annex VI legislation has so far been based on the concept of SECAs, i.e. it seeks targeted sulphur reductions in those specific areas where emission density is high and sulphur impacts from ships are comparable to those from land-based sources.

By focusing on emissions where they are the most harmful, rather than setting a global sulphur cap for all marine fuels, IMO has enabled reductions to have maximum benefit for human health and the environment while remaining cost-effective.