Environmental groups blast loopholes in Arctic heavy fuel oil ban – Nunatsiaq News

23 November 2020

A global coalition of environmental organizations called the Clean Arctic Alliance is condemning the International Maritime Organization’s Nov. 20 passage of an Arctic heavy fuel oil ban—saying it’s so full of loopholes, it’s meaningless.

Heavy fuel oil, or HFO, is a tar-like substance used as a marine fuel. It’s difficult to clean up if spilled into cold waters and it produces particles of black soot, or black carbon, when ocean-going vessels burn it as fuel.

“By taking the decision to storm ahead with the approval of this outrageous ban, the IMO and its member states must take collective responsibility for failing to put in place true protection of the Arctic, Indigenous communities, and wildlife from the threat of heavy fuel oil,” Sian Prior, the Clean Arctic Alliance’s lead advisor, said in a statement issued after the IMO’s decision.

The IMO, a United Nations agency, has banned HFOs for ships operating in Antarctic waters since 2010.

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