Today shipping is likely to form a central plank of the annual policy address of the chief executive of Hong Kong for once. However, for those wishing for a strong commitment to re-establish the city as a maritime hub, prepare for a disappointment as C Y Leung is expected to focus on shipping’s emissions, which have now surpassed power plants as the largest source of sulphur pollution in the former British colony. Ships are already the main emitter of nitrogen oxides and suspended particles.

Leung is expected to bring in measures to curb this pollution when he makes his plans for 2013 officially known at 11:00 hrs tomorrow.

To date there has been the voluntary Fair Wind Charter, in which 18 leading containerlines signed up to use low-sulphur fuel in the city two years ago. However, the voluntary scheme did not go far enough and now mandatory reductions are on the cards.

Maersk Line’s North Asia ceo Tim Smith, who lives in Hong Kong, told Bloomberg last week: “Some carriers turn up here, they don’t switch to low-sulfur fuel, and they get a cost advantage. We don’t think that’s right. What we want is the government to regulate.”

Smog causes more than 3,000 deaths a year, according to Civic Exchange, a group that has fought hard in recent years to improve the Special Administrative Region’s air.

Were Hong Kong to go down the Emissions Control Area [ECA] route like California and the Baltic region, then it is widely expected that other ports in South China would follow suit.

Check out our site tomorrow for the very latest maritime rulings from Hong Kong’s leadership.

Source: Sino Ship News