International Maritime Organization (IMO) has set regulations to limit the maximum sulfur content of the ship emissions. The State Parties of MARPOL (Marine Pollution) are responsible of monitoring and setting possible fines and authority actions in special areas under MARPOL for ships not following the set regulations.
AirNow service has been in use with Finnish authorities since year 2016.
ECA areas
Sulfur content limit is 0.10% m/m.
Other sea areas
Sulfur content limit is 3.50% m/m until the end of year 2019.
AIRNOW service dramatically lowers the surveillance cost for the MARPOL state authorities. Targeting non-compliant vessels and imposing a sanction is much easier than before.
Monitoring used to be handled with spot checking and actually visiting random vessels. With AirNow service all monitoring data is delivered to web-based platform, sms- and email notifications.
IMO FAQ – The 2020 Global Sulphur Limit