What are Emission Control Areas?

An application for designating a sea area as an Emission Control Area (ECA) must be approved by the Parties to Annex VI. ECAs may be designated for sulphur oxides (SOx) and particulate matter (PM), or nitrogen oxides (NOx), or all three types of emissions, subject to a proposal from an IMO member country.
Annex VI originally set a limit of 1.50 percent sulphur for marine fuel oil used by ships sailing in designated Sulphur Emission Control Areas (SECAs).

The revised Annex VI lowered the sulphur limit in SECAs to 1.00 percent from July 2010 and to 0.10 percent as from 2015. The Baltic Sea was the first SECA to enter into force in 2006, followed by the North Sea (including the English Channel) in 2007. In March 2010, the IMO officially designated waters extending 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from the coast of the United States and Canada as the first “full” ECA, i.e. covering SOx, PM and NOx. The decision entered into force from August 2011 and the stricter sulphur limits became effective from August 2012.

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Difference Between A, B & C-Class Divisions?

IMO Symbol A Class Division IMO Symbol B Class Division SOLAS has tables for structural fire protection requirement of bulkheads and decks. The requirements depend on the spaces in question and are different for passenger ships and cargo ships. The Administration has required a test of a prototype bulkhead or deck in accordance with the Fire Test Procedures Code to ensure that it meets the above requirements for integrity and temperature rise. Types of Divisions: "A" Class "B" Class "C" Class "A" Class: "A" class divisions are those divisions formed by bulkheads and decks which comply with the following criteria: They are constructed of steel or equivalent material They are suitably stiffened They are constructed as to be capable of preventing the passage of smoke and flame to the end of the one-hour standard fire test. they are insulated with approved non-combustible materials such that the average tempera

Bilge Injection Valve

Bilge Injection is a valve that enables the engine room bilges to be pumped out directly overboard in the event of an emergency such as flooding. The valve is normally fitted to the end of a branch connection with the main sea water suction line. This enables large main seawater cooling pumps to be used as a bilge pump in an emergency. Emergencies like fire and flooding involve the use of seawater. If there is a fire, seawater is the biggest resource of water available in the sea. Similarly, if it involves flooding of the engine room, cargo spaces or any other place on the ship for that matter; you would again require pumping the sea water out of the ship. In both these cases, you require pumps. There are two valves in close proximity namely main injection valve and bilge injection valve. Both of them have their own independent controls. The diameter of the bilge injection valve is kept nearly 66% of the main valve diameter which draws water directly from the sea through the

Load Line & Why it is Important

Merchant ships have a marking on their hull know as the Plimsoll line or the Plimsoll mark, which indicates the limit until which ships can be loaded with enough cargo, internationally, the Plimsoll line on a ship is officially referred to as the international load line. Every type of ship has a different level of floating and the Plimsoll line on a ship generally varies from one vessel to another. All vessels of 24 meters and more are required to have this Load line marking at the centre position of the length of summer load water line. There are two types of Load line markings:- Standard Load Line marking – This is applicable to all types of vessels. Timber Load Line Markings – This is applicable to vessels carrying timber cargo. These marks shall be punched on the surface of the hull making it visible even if the ship side paint fades out. The marks shall again be painted with white or yellow colour on a dark background/black on a light background. The comp

Marine Engineering

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