Compliance monitoring for Marpol Annex VI

CompMon aims to pilot a new paradigm in the enforcement of International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations, i.e. the remote monitoring of compliance with MARPOL Annex VI regulations in support of control authorities, and produce actionable information (e.g. risk ratings, alerts), which can be used by national control authorities to target on-board inspections cost-efficiently to those ships that most likely are non-compliant with IMO MARPOL Annex VI regulations. CompMon will achieve this by using remote sensing and sampling methods to determine the compliance of individual vessels, in particular as regards the sulphur content in fuel. During the implementation of the project, remote sensing is done from fixed installations along shipping routes and from aircraft and other mobile platforms equipped with remote sensing instruments. In addition to remote sensing, portable bunker fuel analysers are used by national inspection authorities in on-board inspections. While it is expected that the CompMon information would be complemented with other evidence for legal proceedings, CompMon information would have an auditable trail to the degree determined by the authorities. The flagship involves partners from Finland and Sweden with co-operation partners from Denmark and Germany from the Baltic Sea region, as well as Belgium and the Netherlands from the North Sea region.

During the project over 40 000 remote sensing observations were made from fixed and mobile platforms and this data was used by national authorities for targeting ships for onboard inspections. Portable XRF-scanners were used by inspectors for quick analysis of sulphur content of the bunker used by the vessel targeted for an inspection. The project also produced reports focusing e.g. on best practices of airborne monitoring and legal aspects of compliance monitoring and enforcement.