Shipping’s use of exhaust gas scrubbers to cut emissions could be banned for breaching human rights legislation if green lobby groups get their way.
Led by Friends of the Earth International, the lobby argues that the discharge of toxins into the air and sea may contravene the rights of coastal communities.
The groups that inform the International Maritime Organization have had a long-running battle with the industry over scrubbers, which they believe should not be considered equivalent to using less polluting low-sulphur fuel.
They claim that scrubbers do not remove particulate matter and often push the collected emissions into the sea as toxic wash water.
The proposal to consider human rights in the debate will go before the IMO at September’s Marine Environment Protection Committee meeting.
Announcing the move, the groups quoted Marcos Orellana, the United Nations special rapporteur, on the implications for human rights and the environment.
Orellana visited the IMO last year on a fact-finding mission and submitted a lengthy report on the link between shipping and human rights.
The green lobby has noted that ports and countries are increasingly banning scrubbers and it would like to see this rolled out internationally.
The International Council for Clean Transportation lists 45 countries that have implemented restrictions on scrubbers.
The legal challenge proposed by the green groups to curb their use has been questioned by the Clean Shipping Alliance (CSA), which says it represents commercial ship operators and cruise companies that have invested in or supported the use of scrubber technologies.
“We have some questions about the legal analysis, but also see errors in the technical statements regarding particulates, CO2 and nitrates, and will be commenting further,” the CSA wrote in an email to TradeWinds.
Banning the use of scrubbers across the global fleet may be difficult.
Data from DNV’s Alternative Fuels Insight platform suggests the number of vessels with exhaust gas cleaning systems installed will rise to about 5,330 by the end of 2024.
Scrubbers are after-combustion technologies fitted on ships to remove sulphur oxide emissions from exhaust plumes.
They have become popular as an alternative way to comply with IMO and European Union sulphur fuel limits.
