Trade-offs in Meeting the MARPOL Annex VI Requirements with the Focus on Costs

Maritime transport is considered the most energy-efficient and environmentally friendly way of transporting large volumes of goods. The environmental aspect of maritime transport is regulated by the MARPOL Convention, which now has six annexes dealing with various elements of pollution from ships. In this paper, the authors address air pollution from ships. Air pollution from ships is dealt with in the MARPOL Annex VI. Ocean-going ships emit climate-changing pollutants (greenhouse gases) and local pollutants that lead to cardiovascular and lung diseases and premature deaths. By transporting around 12 billion tons of cargo per year, maritime transport causes around 3% of all man-made greenhouse gas emissions, 13% of sulphur oxide emissions and 15% of nitrogen oxide emissions. As a result, maritime transport causes around 265,000 premature deaths worldwide. Without remedial actions, maritime transport emissions could increase by 130% by 2050 compared to 2008 levels; however, by 2025, new ships must be 30% more energy efficient than in 2014, and the maritime sector is gradually included in the Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) since 2024. Currently, many propulsion technologies can be installed in newbuilds, while the existing fleet can be retrofitted in various ways to meet the new regulations. It is also possible to use cleaner but more expensive fuel. However, current solutions cannot address all air pollutants simultaneously or at a reasonable cost, so compromises are needed. The aim of the paper is to explore different ways to reduce air emissions from maritime transport and express them in monetary terms, either in terms of capital, operating or voyage costs.