Half of the ships well above emission limits for nitrogen oxide

Published 14 March 2023

Sniffer intake of a boat. Photo. — Emissions from shipping traffic are monitored using physical/chemical analysis through a “sniffer” on the Great Belt Bridge in Denmark. The photo shows the sniffer intake. Photo: Jörg Beecken.

Within the activities of the EU HORIZON 2020 project SCIPPER, recordings of NOx (nitrogen oxides) emissions from vessels were remotely collected and analysed. The data originated from different measurement locations in the Baltic Sea and North Sea within 2022. The analysis shows that 50 per cent of the emission measurements of ships that had to comply with the latest Tier III NOx levels, far exceed the expected emission levels.

- Our measurements show that the new rules have not achieved the desired effect. But now our results may act as a wake-up call so that relevant authorities can take action, says Johan Mellqvist at Chalmers, and member of MERGE, whose research team was responsible for a large part of the measurements in the project.

The findings raise concerns on the effectiveness of the NOx regulation for shipping and, if further confirmed, overall jeopardises the targets of environmental policies in this sensitive NOx Emission Control Area.

Click to read the entire article at Chalmers website