On the 10th of March, 2016, the Annual Meeting of the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) saw the finalization of a Roadmap, which sets in motion plans to submit to the IMO a proposal for a Baltic Sea NOx Emission Control Area (NECA) in accordance to the IMO MARPOL Convention Annex VI. The proposal will be presented alongside a similar one, designed for the North Sea area, at the IMO MEPC 70 meeting, scheduled to be held next autumn.
Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) emissions pose a serious threat to the Baltic Sea ecosystem and when it comes to airborne deposition of nitrogen, shipping is one of the main perpetrators. According to Helcom, a Baltic Sea NECA would contribute significantly to the reduction of nitrogen discharge in the area, promising to reduce the nitrogen pollution by up to 7,000 tons per year.
If accepted at IMO level, the NECA would enable the Baltic Sea countries to exceed the HELCOM Country Allocated Reduction Target (CART), which they agreed upon in 2007. Shipping in the Baltic Sea accounts for over 13,000 tons of airborne nitrogen deposition, nearly matching the total contribution of land based airborne pollution in countries like Russia or Sweden. Up until now only two NECAs have been designated, located in the North America and United States Caribbean Sea. Their implementation is planned for this year.