Aiming to reduce noxious fumes in one of the most densely populated parts of Asia, the Danish shipping giant Maersk Line said Tuesday that its ships would switch to low-sulfur fuel when at berth in Hong Kong — a move it hopes will help quicken regulation in Asia.
Maersk makes about 850 port calls a year to Hong Kong. The company estimated the voluntary switch from cheap, polluting bunker fuel to the cleaner fuel, which costs about $250 more a ton, would cost an extra $1 million a year.
“We feel this is a good investment to get the ball rolling,” Tim Smith, chief executive of Maersk Line’s North Asia operations, said in an interview. “The wheels of government turn very slowly here, and we hope that our initiative will help accelerate regulation and prompt others to follow suit.”
Bunker fuel, widely used by the shipping industry, has high nitrogen and sulfur content, making it significantly more noxious than other types of fuel.
Emission regulations require ships to use far cleaner fuel while they are in waters around much of Europe, including the North Sea and the English Channel, and a similar policy will come into force along the United States and Canadian coastlines in 2012.
No such regulations apply along Asian coastlines, however, in part because of the complex research and international liaison work that is needed to bring about a coherent framework for the industry.
Maersk said it was singling out Hong Kong for the move to cleaner fuel partly because of calls for action from Civic Exchange, a public policy institution that is active on environmental issues, and partly because of the proximity of the shipping industry to the densely populated city.
Shipping emissions are a major contributor to the poor air quality in Hong Kong and the wider Pearl River Delta, which carries heavy global shipping traffic. Pollution in Hong Kong regularly soars above levels deemed safe by the World Health Organization.
Maersk said the move would reduce its emissions of sulfur and particulate matter — tiny particles that can penetrate deep into the lung when inhaled — in Hong Kong by at least 80 percent.
Other shippers are expected to follow Maersk’s example under a voluntary industry charter that has been agreed to in principle by many leading companies and is expected to be officially announced next month.
Arthur Bowring, the managing director of the Hong Kong Shipowners Association, who helped push for the charter, said he was “very pleased” with Maersk’s move and the wider support that was signaled Tuesday at a meeting of industry representatives on the topic of cleaner fuels in Hong Kong.
“We see this as a first step that will hopefully lead to wider regulation,” he said. “We like regulation, because it creates a level playing field. It’s a very odd situation, under which the industry is pushing the government for action, rather than the other way round.”
A spokesman for Hong Kong’s Environmental Protection Department, Felix Leung, said by e-mail that the government welcomed the shipping companies’ initiative to switch to low-sulfur fuel.
