Environmental Protection Agency and the Danish Maritime Authority publish an action plan for 2016
Today, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Danish Maritime Authority publish an action plan for 2016 with the purpose of strengthening enforcement of regulations on ships' sulphur emissions in both Denmark and the SECA countries.
The goal of the action plan is to further pursue the experiences gained by the authorities in 2015 through surveillance from the air and control in ports. In order to achieve this goal, the collection of data from various sources will be needed to enable all SECA country authorities to optimize their enforcement – and this means that international cooperation in the EU and in the IMO as well as in the networks established between the SECA countries must be extended even more.
The action plan also contains initiatives focusing on the development of new surveillance technology, on fuel suppliers and on the promotion of investments in technology making it possible for ships to comply with the sulphur emission requirements.
The plan has been made by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Danish Maritime Authority in close dialogue with the Danish Shipowners' Association.
With the first action plan from 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Danish Maritime Authority launched a number of initiatives. Inter alia, the number of controls of the sulphur content of ships' fuel has doubled in Denmark, and surveillance from the air in Danish waters is carried out by means of so-called "sniffers". These efforts are now supported by the new action plan.
Enforcement of rules is important to both the environment and shipping
In 2015, the industry, environmental organisations and the authorities have all focused on the importance of enforcement of the regulations to both the environment and Danish shipping. This is the case because non-compliant shipowners will gain considerable economic and, thus, competitive advantages and, consequently, do not bear the extra costs related to the emission of less sulphur.