Finnish government rejects ECA emission limits

The Finnish government has decided not to approve the change in Annex VI of the MARPOL convention concerning lower limits to, among other things, sulphur emissions from ships in emission control areas (ECA), which include the Baltic Sea. The permitted maximum sulphur content in bunker oil in ECA will be cut from 1.5 per cent to 1.0 per cent on July 1, 2010, and to 0.1 per cent on January 1, 2015. For the Finnish industry, this would result in nearly EUR 1 billion in extra transport costs.