Comments on PPR 11/6 Report of the Correspondence Group and relevant submissions

Strategic direction, 3 if applicable: Output: 3.3 Action to be taken: Paragraph 14 Related documents: PPR 8/5/1; PPR 10/18, PPR 10/18/Add.1; PPR 11/6, PPR 11/INF3, PPR 11/6/1, PPR11/6/2, PPR 11/6/3 and PPR 11/INF 7 Background 1 This document is submitted in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 6.12.5 of the Organization and method of work of the Maritime Safety Committee and the Marine Envi. [...] Fuel quality and standards 4 Document PPR 11/6/2 (ISO) notes that ISO's work to develop a paraffinic indicator for marine fuels was triggered by document PPR 8/5/1(Finland and Germany), showing that the aromatic content of marine fuels is directly linked to the amount of BC emissions in the exhaust gas. [...] Riazi wrote in his 2005 study that ʺhydrogen is an example of a perfect fuel with a zero CH weight ratio (CH = 0), while BC is an example of the worst fuel with a CH value of infinityʺ6 and made clear that the ʺquality of a fuel is directly related to the hydrogen and sulphur content. [...] ISO nevertheless acknowledged that ʺthe higher the H/C ratio the better the combustion characteristics of a fuel areʺ.9 Document PPR 11/6/2 is clear that ʺvery little test data on the H/C ratio of marine fuels is available to allow assigning a reference valueʺ in ISO 8217 to determine whether a marine fuel is more aromatic or paraffinic. [...] 13 In developing BC control measures, as invited by PPR 10, the co-sponsors remind delegates of paragraph 14 in document MEPC 80/9/2 (FOEI et al.), which urged that proposals ʺshould address a wider and more appropriate definition of the Arctic sea area to account for ship BC emissions throughout the whole Arctic region and also ensure that such measures also address the transboundary impacts of B.