#ShipScrubbers - The European Sustainable Shipping Forum) (ESSF) has called on European shipowners and port authorities urgently call for clarification of rules pertaining to use of scrubbers.

The EU Sulphur Directive is set to come into force in only a few months, on 01 January 2015. The new sulphur requirements impose that ships sailing in the SECAs (Sulphur Emission Control Areas-the Channel, the North Sea and the Baltic Sea) use bunker fuels with a sulphur content of maximum 0.1% or that the same level of emissions is reached by the use of alternative fuels or compliant abatement technologies.

Scrubbers have been identified as one of the few abatement technologies available allowing ships to reduce the sulphur content in their emissions. However, a lack of clarity in EU rules jeopardises their uptake. For further details ESPO has an update.