Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assistance the Government is providing to port companies and shipping operatives in responding to the introduction of the EU low-sulphur fuel regulation.

Pollutant emissions from ships are regulated by an international treaty in Annex VI to the MARPOL Convention. The sulphur provisions in MARPOL, which were adopted in 2008, are substantially mirrored in the EU Directive 2012/33/EU.

This year, the Government was successful in supporting shipowners and ports who apply for EU assistance under the TEN-T programme to help purchase innovative technologies – including infrastructure for liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering. We are now considering other potential measures for providing EU and domestic financial support for industry.

Moreover, we have secured a commitment to enable shipowners to discuss their plans for compliance with the European Commission, in confidence, to help resolve any outstanding difficulties. We are promoting the importance of a targeted, consistent and proportionate enforcement regime for marine sulphur across the EU. We have been instrumental in bringing forward the date for IMO’s fuel availability review, which should provide industry more time to prepare for the 0.5% global sulphur limit, which will apply outside European waters in 2020 or 2025.