Sulphur Emission Control Area (SECA) to be established in the Mediterranean Sea in 2025.

Governments have agreed to create a Sulphur Emission Control Area (SECA) in the Mediterranean Sea, set to take effect on May 1, 2025. This decision was made on December 10, 2021, during COP 22 of the Barcelona Convention in Antalya, Türkiye, where 22 signatory governments committed to establishing the SECA for shipping under MARPOL (Annex VI). The proposal is scheduled for submission for adoption at MEPC 78 in June 2022.

The new regulation, referred to as “ECAMED,” will require marine fuels to have a sulphur content of 0.1%, down from the current 0.5% limit that has been in place since January 1, 2020, in the Mediterranean Sea. In May 2021, representatives from Mediterranean states reached an agreement on a draft submission to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), which was subsequently approved by the focal points of the Mediterranean Action Plan, part of the United Nations Environment Program, during a meeting from September 10 to 17.

Currently, the Mediterranean Sea lacks any special status in terms of emissions control, unlike regions such as the Channel, North Sea, Baltic Sea, and the USA/Canada zone, all of which are designated as control zones for atmospheric emissions (known as SECA for sulfur oxides and particles, NECA for nitrogen oxides, and ECA for both). While no measures have been decided yet for nitrogen oxides, the signatories of the Barcelona Convention have agreed to discuss the establishment of a NECA zone to limit NOx emissions within the next two years.