Mediterranean Sea will become sulphur emission control area

By | 2021 Newsletter week 50 | No Comments

The European Union, together with countries from around the Mediterranean Sea, have agreed to support the designation of a sulphur emissions control area (SECA) in the Mediterranean basin and as a consequence every ship transiting through the Mediterranean will only be allowed to use fuels containing low sulphur.

The agreement was reached last week in Antalya, Turkey, when the contracting parties of the UN’s Barcelona Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean held the 22nd meeting of the “Conference of the parties”: contracting parties to the convention signed a declaration endorsing a new strategy for 2022 to 2027 to achieve a healthy, clean, sustainable and climate-resilient Mediterranean Sea.

The ministerial meeting closed weeklong discussions, which in addition to the designation of an emission control area and the Medium-Term Strategy 2022-27, agreed on a total of 18 decisions.