SECA
The SECA zones (SECA for Sulphur Emission Control Area) are maritime areas in which strict controls of merchant ships have been established by the Intemational Martime Organization (IMO) to minimize emissions of sulfur oxides
ECA
Emission control areas (ECAs) are sea areas in which stricter controls were established to minimize airborne emissions from ships as defined by Annex VI of the 1997 MARPOL Protocol.The emissions specifically include SOx, NOx and VOCs and the regulations contain provisions for two sets of emission and fuel quality requirements regarding SOx and PM, or NOx, a global requirement and more stringent controls in special emission control areas (ECA). The regulations stems from concerns about ” Iocal and global air pollution and environmental problems” in regard to the shipping industry’s contribution. In January 2020, a revised more stringent Annex VI was enforced in the emission control areas with significantly lowered emission limits. ECAs with nitrogen oxides thresholds are denoted as nitrogen oxide emission control areas (NECAs)
SOx emissions control
The purpose of the protocol was to reduce and to control the emissions coming from the marine vessels exhausts that pollute the environment. MARPOL Convinced IMO to control the average worldwide sulfur content fuels. As of 1 January 2020 the Annex states that a global cap is 0.5% m/m on the sufur content in fuel. However, MARPOL insist on it being 0.1% m/m in some regions classified as “SOx emission control areas” (SECAs). On the other hand, MARPOL came up with a way to avoid using an exhaust gas cleaning systems or anything else that would limit SOx emissions. In fact, the exhaust gas cleaning systems must be approved by the State Administration before put into use. The regulations on the exhaust gas cleaning systems are to set by IMO.
