Hong Kong Plans Ship Exhaust Gas Emissions Law

Ship onshore power alternative provision to take several years, but clean fuel requirement by 2014.

It will take several years for the government to introduce onshore electricity power facilities at the Kai Tak cruise terminal but a law requiring ocean-going vessels berthing at the city to use cleaner fuel can be in place next year at the earliest, reports the South China Morning Post.

According to the think tank Civic Exchange, vessels visiting Ocean Terminal emitted 252 tonnes of sulphur dioxide in 2007 - comparable to the 286 tonnes of vehicle emissions in Hong Kong in 2010.

Hong Kong Government's Undersecretary for the Environment stated that the government planned to introduce a law next year at the earliest requiring all ocean-going vessels - not just cruise ships - to use fuel with a cleaner sulphur content when in the city.

Source: South China Morning Post