Our planet’s oceans are set to get a little bit cleaner thanks to a new ban tidying up the shipping industry in Sweden.
As Offshore Energy reported in February, the Swedish government has banned discharges from scrubbers into ocean waters. Scrubbers are a piece of ship-cleaning equipment meant to “clean the ship’s exhaust gases so that what is released into the air contains relatively low levels of sulfur.” However, they can then wash that pollution right into the water.
Effective July 1, 2025, “discharges from open-loop scrubbers will be prohibited in Swedish territorial waters.” These more common scrubbers can send water filled with exhaust gas pollutants into the ocean.
Effective January 1, 2029, even closed-loop scrubbers will be banned in Sweden as they can also release toxic pollutants through drain water.
Per Offshore Energy, most shipowners in Sweden don’t even need to use scrubbers because of lower-sulfur fuel options. This new ban should curb the release of hazardous scrubber water from all ships in and passing through the area.
“Emissions from ship scrubbers are — even in very low concentrations — harmful to our marine environment,” said Romina Pourmokhtari, Sweden’s Minister for Climate and Environment.
“The use of scrubbers also increases total fuel consumption by around 2-3 percent, which also increases carbon dioxide emissions. When the government now bans emissions from scrubbers, we are taking an important step both for a better marine environment and for the climate.”
The ban in Sweden is part of a larger global effort to ban emissions from scrubbers and protect open seas worldwide. Finland’s government has already decided to prohibit scrubber water from being discharged in the ocean, and Denmark is working toward banning the practice soon as well.
Yet, since oceans have no borders, pollution from scrubbers in one region has the potential to spread all over. Ultimately, a global scrubber discharge ban is needed to address the broader issue and replace heavy fuel oil with more sustainable alternatives.
In addition to banning scrubber pollution, there are many other ways to make ships more sustainable.
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For example, innovative companies are creating high-tech sails to optimize routes based on wind and reduce ship pollution. Meanwhile, sustainable ships powered by hydrogen fuel systems can lessen the industry’s reliance on dirty energy for a greener maritime future.
“Excellent news, and further proof that the pollution from Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems (EGCS), which turn air pollution into water pollution, simply isn’t acceptable anywhere, but especially in sensitive areas such as the Arctic!” Jim Gamble, senior director of the Arctic Program at Pacific Environment, commented on Sweden’s ban via LinkedIn.
“A big win for those who are drawing crucial attention to the problem of scrubbers! And now we need more action in the U.S.,” another LinkedIn user replied in the comments.
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