Beginning January, China will introduce policies that will curb sulfur dioxide emissions at three key port areas, according to a Thursday statement by the Ministry of Transport.
If successfully implemented, the new policies would force oil suppliers to improve their supply of cleaner marine fuel, said industry experts. The ministry did not give details on how the new emissions policies were to be enforced or the penalties for not following them.
The new rules will apply only to merchant ships navigating or anchoring in the waters of the Pearl River Delta, Bohai Bay rim and the Yangtze River Delta.
The goal is to cut the amount of sulfur dioxide by 65 percent by 2020 compared with its 2015 level, according to a document issued by the ministry.
Similar areas of controlled emissions exist in the North American coast and the North Sea.
Ships located near ports within the three Chinese emissions control zones will start using bunker fuel that has a maximum sulfur dioxide content of 0.5 percent starting January, said the ministry.
Enforcement of the new measures will initially be left to individual ports, but uniform rules to police all three zones will be used in 2017.
Starting 2019, the policies will be tightened further. Ships entering these zones will have to use 0.5 percent SO2 bunker fuel or below.
The ministry is exempting fishing, sports and military vessels.
The International Maritime Organization, a U.N.-affiliated body that regulates merchant ships, plans to introduce a global cap on ship emissions either by 2020 or 2025.