An International Maritime Organization (IMO) ban on the use and carriage of heavy fuel oil (HFO) by Arctic shipping came into force on 1 July.

The prohibition on use and carriage of the most polluting and climate damaging fuel for ships in Arctic waters was agreed by the IMO in June 2021, and was finally enacted three years later, preventing the use of the cheap oil and widely used fuel.

HFO is made from left over in oil refining, making it cheap but also highly polluting, and especially damaging to the Artic regions dur to the colder waters preventing the oil being broken down and instead sinking to the bottom of the seas.

The ban has been welcomed by campaigners, but also received criticism for including significant loopholes allowing countries to grant waivers, and for shipping companies to make use of exemptions for many vessels – meaning that the ban will only reach full speed in 2029.

There is also the issue of ‘black carbon’, particles generated when the oil is burned, adding another dimension to the damage HFO can do to the environment.

The IMO has already formally recognised that black carbon is the second largest source of ship climate warming, and it is responsible for around 20 per cent of shipping’s climate impact. Black carbon has a disproportionately high impact when released in and near the Arctic – when emitted from the exhausts of ships burning oil-based fuel and settles onto snow and ice, it accelerates melting and the loss of reflectivity – the albedo effect – which creates a feedback loop that further exacerbates local and global heating.

“Governments and NGOs fought long and hard to achieve the ban on the use and carriage of HFO in the Arctic – yet see that it will be half-implemented is quite simply not good enough”, said Dr Sian Prior, lead advisor to the Clean Arctic Alliance . “MO Member States, especially Arctic coastal countries, must go farther than the IMO ban by implementing it in ways that truly protect the Arctic from HFO spills and black carbon emissions – and that means refusing to offer loopholes to the shipping industry”.

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