선박 대기오염 규제에 대한 국내 법률과 해운기업의 실무상 쟁점 - 2020년 국제해사기구 황산화물 규제를 중심으로 -

Abstract

In the past, many people misunderstood that the ocean which accounts for over 70% of the earth’s surface will always be clean regardless of any pollution. In reality, however, the sea is currently experiencing serious problems due to pollution caused by various sources. Early efforts to prevent marine pollution focused mainly on water. For example, regulations on oil pollution began to be active with the oil spill accident at The Torrey Canyon in 1967, and this movement was mainly focused on preventing marine pollution by oil, hazardous liquids, ship sewage and ship waste. Recently, however, the approach to prevent ocean pollution is changing. There is an increasing focus on air pollution from ship. The air pollution occurs when harmful or excessive quantities of materials are discharged into the atmosphere. Source of air pollution includes gases, such as NOx, SOx, VOCs, etc. These may cause harm to a living creature such as animals, food, and the natural environment. As IMO has adopted a MARPOL amendment for new global limit on SOx emissions generated from ship’s fuel oil which came into force from 1 January 2020, Korea government enacted and revised related laws including the Act on the Development and Distribution of Environment-Friendly Ship, the Marine Environment Management Act, and the Port Air Quality Act in order to incorporate into its domestic law the above MARPOL amendments. The adoption and implementation of this rule may represent a fundamentally changing approach in the battle against ocean pollution. Complying with the rules for limit of emissions will significantly reduce the amount of SOx emanating from ships and bring major health and environmental benefits for the globe. However, it will become difficult and expensive to meet the requirements, and also increase the operating cost of a business. For example, shipping companies will need to use expensive low sulfur fuel oil or build a ship that uses alternative fuels, or install an expensive exhaust gas purifier in order to meet the limit. This paper discusses the role of the IMO’s regulations on SOx, and possible legal issues that shipping companies will face.