The advent of the SOx emissions limit within ECAs at the start of 2015 had many effects on the maritime marketplace, with all reputable shipowners and operators putting their plans to ensure compliance into operation. However, while the onus was on this section of the market to comply, an equally thorny question remained unanswered – namely that of how the new regulations were to be enforced.
Ensuring effective compliance with emissions regulation is crucial not simply from the point of view of the authorities and the environment, but also for shipowners and operators themselves, since if non-compliant owners and operators are allowed to flout the laws without sanction, it places those compliant and reputable owners and operators at a major comparative disadvantage.
For this reason, The Trident Alliance came into being. This is a coalition of shipowners and operators who are working to ensure the robust enforcement of maritime sulphur regulations. The member company ceo’s have each signed a Statement of Commitment, in which they commit to supporting robust and transparent enforcement of sulphur regulations as well as to comply with said regulations.
Methods of enforcement are therefore a particularly hot topic as far as the industry is concerned. Obviously, coastguards and port authorities have the right to board a ship and test its emission levels from the stack. This method of random sampling has been used so far but clearly it has its limitations as a means of catching transgressors. Indeed, there are practical limits on how many ships can be tested in any given time – indeed, according to Maersk’s 2014 data, in Europe only one in 1,000 ships had their fuel tested.
“It is of great concern that the authorities are underprepared in terms of funding, manpower and legal readiness to enforce effectively. This scenario can quickly distort the competitive balance in the industry while simultaneously harming health and environmental interests," said Roger Strevens, chairman of the Trident Alliance.
Another possibility is using the sniffer project that is also under development. This project involves installing so-called sniffers in strategic spots to measure the exhaust from passing ships. However, these are of necessity often going to be some distance from the actual source of emissions.
For this reason, it is seen as imperative that other, more effective methods of enforcement are found. One idea that has risen to prominence in this regard is that of the ‘sniffer drone’. These are small, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that monitor air pollution from ship traffic. The unmanned drones will hover above the ships sailing in the ECA zones, and the ambition is for the drones to be able to register whether ships violate the international sulphur emission regulations.
But there are certain clear advantages to the drone solution. The advantage of using drone technology is that it is much cheaper to deploy than traditional surveillance methods at sea. Both because drones in and of themselves are comparatively inexpensive and because the sensor technology mounted on the drones is much cheaper than sensors placed far from the emission source. In order to effectively monitor and identify polluters it is necessary precisely to link a sensor result to a specific ship and – unlike other technologies – drones can ensure this.
According to Bettina Knudsen, chief operating officer at Explicit, one of the companies leading the development of this technology, describes the devices as “Like a breathalyser, but for ships.” The detector measures the ratio between SO2 and CO2 to determine whether or not a ship is compliant or not.
The system is able to calculate the exact position of the plume of a ship in real-time. Based on this, the drone will seek out the plume on its own, do the measurements and report the results back to the system before returning to the mission base.
The Trident Alliance, which includes Maersk Line, Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (WWL), and 10 other companies, has given the idea its endorsement, making it clear it sees drones as a more effective enforcement mechanism than occasional inspections of ships at port.
According to Roger Strevens: "With conventional technologies, it's difficult and expensive to determine what a vessel is burning while she is under way. A drone with emissions sensors on board can overcome that."
By way of endorsement of the technology, the Danish Environmental Protection Agency last year agreed to allocate an additional US$100,000 towards Explicit's emissions monitoring drone project to develop new sensors capable of sensing nitrogen oxides (NOx), bringing total investment from the EPA up to $280,000.
Explicit's drones were also one of 10 finalists in last year's Ocean Exchange innovation contest, and are also supported by the Danish Maritime Authority and the Danish Ship Owner's Association. They are currently being tested together with FORCE Technology A/S.
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