Stop using heavy fuel oil for ships transiting the Arctic.But it's a "half-baked" ban

Heavy fuel oil is highly harmful, both due to the fumes that settle on the polar shelf and in the event of a spill into the sea.

• On July 1, the ban on the use and transport of heavy fuel oil (or HFO) by ships crossing Arctic waters came into force.
• This dense fuel, derived from petroleum, is dangerous for the environment both because of the black smoke that settles on the ice and because it is almost impossible to clean up in the event of a spill.
• According to NGOs, however, this ban includes too many loopholes that drastically compromise its effectiveness.

While the world of navigation wonders what the green naval fuel of the future (LNG, ammonia, electric propulsion...), on 1 July has entered into force The ban on the use and transport of heavy fuel oil (or Hfo) on the part of ships crossing Arctic waters, whose boundary is identified at 60 degrees north of the equator.That is 6 degrees south of the Arctic Circle.A success long desired by bothInternational Maritime Organization (IMO) both from Clean Arctic Alliance, an association formed by 23 non-profit organizations (including Greenpeace and WWF) with the aim of putting pressure on governments to take measures to protect the northernmost coasts of the Earth, its populations, flora and fauna.The Alliance also asks the IMO - which is a UN institution that supervises maritime transport - to implement other measures to reduce harmful emissions from shipping through the use of cleaner fuels and particulate filters for diesel engines.

The characteristics of heavy fuel oil

L'heavy fuel oil it is a very dense fuel derived from the petrolium.It's similar to tar, a product that is a bit of a terror of all the seas, of the fishing and tourism industries.The fact that costs around 30 percent less than other fuels means that 80 percent of the world's ships, particularly from oil tankers, loads it into their tanks.

However, heavy fuel oil is particularly harmful in the polar regions, where the black smoke emitted when it burns in the on-board boilers settles on the ice, accelerating its melting.But not only:being very viscous and slush-like, it would be in the event of a spill almost impossible to clean up especially in the cold waters of the poles, where it sinks into lumps without decomposing.In reality, its density compared to water can vary:as a result, leaked oil can float, sink or remain suspended in the water.In all three cases, it is a serious problem.

There National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a US scientific and regulatory agency part of the Department of Commerce describes it as a “persistent” oil because only 5 to 10 percent of it evaporates in the first few hours after a spill.The remaining 90-95 percent spreads in spots on the surface of the water, some of which shatter into "pieces" which can still have several meters in diameter.These can be transported hundreds of kilometers by winds and ocean currents, making their recovery impossible.

The many exceptions to the ban valid for the Arctic

The ban on the use and transport of heavy fuel oil is not new:has been in force for about ten years already Antarctic seas and from 2022 in the waters surrounding the Norwegian archipelago Svalbard Islands.Now it's time for arctic waters.According to Clean Arctic Alliance, however, there are still too many loopholes that will limit the effectiveness of the measure.

First:ships equipped with a protected fuel tank will be exempt from the ban.In reality, this protection prevents or makes extremely remote the leakage of heavy fuel oil but does nothing against emissions into the air.Second:the units flying the flag of the countries bordering the Arctic – Russia, Canada, the United States, Norway and Iceland are the main ones – they will be exempt from the ban until at least 2029.This means that, among ships using HFO, approximately three out of four will be able to continue to do so.The Canada has indicated that it intends to grant waivers for its ships carrying food and fuel to Arctic communities.There Finland has said it will enforce the regulations, while the United States and Denmark have yet to comment.

Furthermore, the continuous increase in demand for oil on a global level it could even lead to an increase in the amount of heavy fuel oil used in Arctic seas.In short:it rains on the wet.“Oil tankers and gas tankers use large volumes of HFO,” he said Elena Tracy, WWF consultant for the Arctic programme.“With new drilling projects ready in places like the Russian Arctic, we will also see an increase in the amount of HFO coming on board ships, in tanks as fuel or in tankers as fuel to be transferred elsewhere.”

As if that wasn't enough, maritime transportation in the northernmost part of the Earth is on the rise.One study published at the beginning of the year by a working group for the environmental protection of Arctic waters, made up of representatives of the countries bordering these seas, highlighted how between 2013 and 2023 the mercantile traffic in the region has increased by 37 percent while the distance traveled by ships has even more than doubled.Data from the Clean Arctic Alliance says that black carbon emissions arising from merchant units increased by 85 percent between 2015 and 2019.The IMO ban will reduce their volume, but only by 5 percent.