Climate change: Arctic 'dirty oil' ban comes into force for ships

A ban on the dirtiest and most climate-damaging fuel for ships has come into effect in Arctic waters.

Campaigners say the ban, while welcome, will make little immediate impact as a series of loopholes will allow the vast majority of ships to use the fuel until 2029.Produced from the waste left over in oil refining, HFO poses a huge threat to the oceans in general but to the Arctic in particular.In colder waters experts say the fuel does not break down but sinks in lumps that linger in sediments, threatening fragile ecosystems.

“It's attracting heat while it's in the atmosphere, and then it settles onto the snow and ice and is speeding up the melting as well.”Environmentalists have been pushing to expand that restriction to northern waters for years, finally persuading the countries that participate in the International Maritime Organisation to enact a ban back in 2021.

These waiver exemptions will last until 2029 – their impact is likely to be significant with the International Council on Clean Transportation estimating that about 74% of ships that use HFO will be able to continue to do so.The ban has many loopholes say campaigners, meaning ships with protected fuel tanks, like many tankers, will be able to continue to use Heavy Fuel Oil

“We are going to see more of oil and gas project developments in certain places such as in the Russian Arctic, and the increase of the use of LNG tankers there will see the volume of HFO go up as well.”

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