Arctic waters near Longyearbyen, Svalbard, in May 2022.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) instituted a ban on heavy fuel oil (HFO) in the Arctic Ocean in July. But the environmental groups that supported the rule warn its effects will be limited due to widespread exemptions and Russia’s nonparticipation.
“It completely gutted the effectiveness of the heavy fuel oil ban,” Bryan Comer, an environmental scientist and the marine program director of the International Council on Clean Transportation, said in an interview with Professional Mariner.
A byproduct of oil refining, HFO is a tar-like substance that has been a cheap and ubiquitous fuel source in international shipping since the mid-20th century. It emits black carbon, a potent greenhouse gas that researchers say quickens the melting of ice and snow.
Also, the viscosity of HFO means spills can be difficult to clean up. It does not disperse easily in water and can form tar balls that sink, in a process that is exacerbated by cold temperatures.
“Because it’s heavy weight, it will withstand a lot of the things we use for cleaning up lighter oil spills,” said Sian Prior, an ecotoxicologist and lead adviser to the Clean Arctic Alliance. She added that solvents and skimmers may be ineffective, and the time required to marshal a cleanup operation to the remote Arctic creates additional concerns.
Citing potential harm to a fragile ecosystem, the IMO banned HFO in Antarctic waters in 2011. Climate activists and governments pushed for its ban in the Arctic, as well. In 2021, the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee passed new restrictions that prohibit the carrying and usage of HFO in the Arctic.
The new rules went into effect this summer, but many vessels are exempt until 2029, including ships used for safety and security, search and rescue, and oil spill preparedness and response; ships outfitted with fuel tank protections meant to prevent spills, which includes most newer ships, and ships that received waivers from the five countries with coastlands bordering the Arctic Ocean.
In an emailed response to questions from Professional Mariner, a spokesperson for the IMO said, “Member states raised the need to allow for this phase-in process.”
According to a paper from the International Council on Clean Transportation, these caveats would exempt 74 percent of HFO-fueled traffic that passed through the Arctic in 2019. The same paper states that if it had been in effect in 2019, the ban would have reduced the carrying of HFO by only 30 percent and its Arctic usage by 16 percent. The IMO spokesperson said that the organization does not comment on outside research.
“Nothing changes between now and 2029,” Prior said. “[W]e don’t think the exemptions should have been allowed.”
Four of the five countries exempted — the United States, Canada, Norway and Finland — voluntarily agreed not to issue waivers to the ban, though Canada is waiting until Jan. 1, 2025, to end its waivers.
But the Arctic activity of three of those countries is negligible, said Comer. “It improves the situation very marginally, and really only in Canada.”
The greatest obstacle for the long-term success of the ban is Russia, which informed the IMO that it does not plan to enforce the ban at all. The IMO has no enforcement power and relies on member states to act on its directives.
The Arctic includes many major pathways for Russian oil tankers, and Russia flags most ships active in the Arctic. More than half of Arctic shipping activity passes through Russian waters.
However, the HFO ban could cause problems for Russian ships at foreign ports. “Whenever a ship comes into your port that you control, you can dictate the terms of what the ship needs to comply with, including whether they have to comply with the heavy fuel oil ban,” Comer said. “But if Russia is mainly shipping to friendly countries that aren’t really interested in enforcing that regulation, then there’s not going to be much of a consequence.”
Since its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has been largely isolated from the rest of the world and resistant to international pressures. But shipping relies on international cooperation, said Prior, who believes the Russian maritime industry will eventually be persuaded to end the use of HFO in the Arctic.
“Russian ships will not operate only in Russia, but there will be a lot that are wanting to operate in other parts of the world, and they will feel the peer pressure from other companies that are decarbonizing,” she said. “We hope that that will encourage them to move away from these very heavy residual fuels.”