With a decade of delay and with important exceptions. But, finally, the Arctic begins to be able to get rid of heavy hydrocarbons (HFOs) and the threat of harmful spills. These fuels, also known as heavy fuel oils, are very dense and cheaper than distillates. But they pose a significant risk if the ships that use them to move or transport them have an accident. These hydrocarbons are "similar to the one that caused the Prestige disaster" in 2002, says Míriam Zaitegui, a member of Ecodes, one of the 18 NGOs that are part of the international alliance that leads the battle against these heavy fuels. The International Maritime Organization (IMO), under the UN, has approved on Friday a regulation to restrict its use and transport from 2024 in the Arctic. This alliance of non-governmental organizations has applauded the step taken by the IMO, although it regrets the gaps in the text, which may allow these dangerous fuels to be used for another ten years.
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"If there is a spill, HFOs are practically impossible to clean, especially in remote Arctic waters," explains Bryan Comer, a researcher at the NGO Clean Transportation International Council. HFOs are the most commonly used marine fuels in the world, although in some sensitive areas - such as in Antarctica - they are prohibited. More than a thousand ships use heavy fuel oil within the Arctic circle each year, according to estimates by the Comer organization. But the thaw caused by global warming is opening new trade routes for ships and new opportunities for resource use. "We are concerned because as ship traffic increases, the risk of an HFO spill also increases," says Comer.
More than 1,000 ships
heavy fuel
The number of ships using heavy fuels on the three major sea routes grew by 30% from 2015 to 2017.
2017
1,111
2015
858
Those 1,111 ships of 2017 accounted for 46% of the total ships that crossed that year, three points more than in 2015.
Zone
expanded
Transpolar Route
North Sea Route
Northwest Route
USA
Ice
in 1979
Ice
in 2019
Canada
RUSSIA
Denmark
Svalbard
Greenland
Norway
Borders
Thaw
Dotted lines represent the maritime borders in the Arctic. The USA, Canada, Denmark, Norway and Russia are the countries present in the area.
The ice surface of September 2019 has been reduced by 40% from that existing in 1979.
2019
3,973,750 km2
1979
6,693,750 km2
Source: NGA, NASA, International Council on Clean
Transportation, Natural Earth and own elaboration.
ARTUR GALOCHA / EL PAÍS
More than 1,000 heavy fuel ships
The number of ships using heavy fuels on the three major sea routes grew by 30% from 2015 to 2017.
2017
1,111
2015
858
Those 1,111 ships of 2017 accounted for 46% of the total ships that crossed that year, three points more than in 2015.
Zone
expanded
Transpolar Route
North Sea Route
Northwest Route
USA
Ice
in 1979
Ice
in 2019
Canada
RUSSIA
Denmark
Svalbard
Norway
Greenland
Borders
Thaw
Dotted lines represent the maritime borders in the Arctic. The USA, Canada, Denmark, Norway and Russia are the countries present in the area.
The ice surface of September 2019 has been reduced by 40% from that existing in 1979.
2019
3,973,750 km2
1979
6,693,750 km2
Source: NGA, NASA, International Council on Clean
Transportation, Natural Earth and own elaboration.
ARTUR GALOCHA / EL PAÍS
The Arctic routes
Three sea routes cross the North Pole taking advantage of the thaw caused by global warming.
More than 1,000 heavy fuel ships
The number of ships using heavy fuels on these routes increased by 30% from 2015 to 2017.
Those 1,111 ships of 2017 accounted for 46% of the total ships that crossed that year, three points more than in 2015.
2017
1,111
2015
858
Borders
Dotted lines represent the maritime borders in the Arctic. The USA, Canada, Denmark, Norway and Russia are the countries present in the area.
Zone
expanded
Route
Transpolate
Route
Northwest
Route of
North Sea
USA
Ice
in 1979
Ice
in 2019
Canada
RUSSIA
Denmark
Norway
Greenland
Svalbard
Thaw
Populations and ports
The ice surface of September 2019 has been reduced by 40% from that existing in 1979.
• Black dots indicate the 135 main populations of the Arctic circle. 73 of them belong to Russia, which has more than 1.3 million inhabitants in the area.
• Red dots are seaports. Norway has 52 of the 95 of the Arctic circle.
2019
3,973,750 km2
1979
6,693,750 km2
Source: NGA, NASA, International Council on Clean Transportation, Natural Earth and own elaboration.
ARTUR GALOCHA / EL PAÍS
The IMO managed to approve in 2010 the veto on these hydrocarbons for Antarctica. However, in the North Pole, in the case of the Arctic, it has not been until Friday when it has been achieved that the IMO environment commission has approved the new regulation during a meeting in London. In autumn, this text must be ratified definitively by the full IMO, where all the member countries of this international organization are.
In general terms, the agreed regulation stipulates that as of July 1, 2024, all ships - less than rescue boats - must stop using heavy hydrocarbons when they enter the Arctic. However, the text opens the door for the eight countries with territories within the Arctic - Russia, USA, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Norway and Finland - to include exceptions for their vessels that would allow them to continue using those heavy fuels until July 2029.
"We are happy that there is a ban date for HFOs," Zaitegui values. But "the flexibilities introduced" leave "the indigenous communities and the North Pole in a still very sensitive situation," he adds. In addition to spills, these fuels are responsible, when burned in the engines, for black carbon emissions, particles that also have a potent greenhouse effect, which further accelerate the Arctic thaw.
The battle to protect the North Pole from heavy fuel pollution has lasted more than a decade. In Antarctica the veto was imposed in 2010. "It was easier to achieve it because no country has territories in Antarctica, there is very limited commercial traffic and few opportunities for the growth of that traffic," says Comer. "But as sea ice melts with climate change, many countries are already exploiting the Arctic for oil and gas production (such as Russia and Norway), mining (such as Canada), fishing and trans-Antarctic shortcuts between Asia and Europe and North America for liquefied natural gas tankers and even container ships, "says Comer.
One of the most belligerent countries against the HFO veto has been Russia. During the process of preparing the regulation, the Arctic countries have produced reports of hypothetical conditions of the ban. To oppose, the Russian Government has used the argument of economic conditions for populations living in the Arctic. According to the report prepared by Moscow and presented to the IMO, 1.2 million Russians live in 11 "territorial entities" of the Arctic and are supplied "by means of ships using heavy fuel oil". The Russian government says that the total veto would force it to adapt ships and buy more expensive fuels and would cost more than 670 million dollars of expenses during the first year of prohibition. On the opposite side, the US - a country that favors the veto - in its report of conditions for its population - 54,040 people living in Alaska - emphasizes the spills produced so far and the cost of cleaning and the loss of resources . And he concludes that the benefits of the ban are much greater than the costs.