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Following is a question by the Hon James Tien and a reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao, in the Legislative Council meeting today (May 2):
Question:
In the election platform for his re-election campaign, the Chief Executive indicated the need to gradually introduce requirements for the use of high-quality fuel by vessels. The Government will also make subsidiary legislation in the first half of this year to implement the requirements in the international conventions on regulating pollutant emissions from vessels. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
(a) it will include merchant vessels and ferries engaged in inner harbour routes in the scope of the regulation regime on pollutant emissions; if so, whether the Government has assessed the impact of such regulation on ferry fares, and whether it will take measures to mitigate such impact; if it will not take mitigation measures, of the reasons for that;
(b) it has studied the feasibility of following the practice of certain ports in Europe and America, which have introduced a "Green Port Policy" requiring berthed cargo vessels to switch off their engines and use the electricity on shore instead, so as to reduce emissions; if it has, of the details of the study; if not, whether it will conduct such a study; and;
(c) it has studied the impact of air pollutants emitted from vessels, which stay along the two sides of the Victoria Harbour and even around Shatin, on public health; if it has, of the details of the study; if not, whether it will conduct such a study?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) Annex VI to the "International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto" (MARPOL) specifies the requirements on the control of vessel emissions of ozone depleting substances, nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides and volatile organic compounds: the sulphur content of fuel used in sulphur oxide emission control area may not exceed 1.5% m/m; whilst in other areas, the sulphur content of fuel may not exceed 4.5% m/m. The Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Air Pollution) Regulation, currently being drafted by the Economic Development and Labour Bureau and the Marine Department, will fully comply with the principles and requirements put forth by MARPOL Annex VI, extending the requirements on sulphur content of fuel under MARPOL to all vessels operating in Hong Kong waters, including ocean-going vessels, Hong Kong's local ferries and vessels only plying between Hong Kong and the Mainland. Since the majority of local vessels (including ferries) are now using diesel fuel with sulphur content of 0.5% m/m, the implementation of the above regulation would have no impact on local ferries.
(b) In recent years, many ports in Europe and America, such as Seattle, Los Angeles, Juneau and Gothenburg etc., have started to encourage berthed cargo vessels to switch off their engines and switch to shore power supply to reduce emissions and avoid polluting the environment near the terminals. For container terminal though, only one berth at the port of Los Angeles provides shore power. A number of complementary measures are required before cargo vessels can switch off their engines and switch to shore power supply after berthing. These include the shore power facilities on board and the power supply systems on shore and at the terminals. In this respect, there is not yet a common standard for shore power supply and facilities on board within the international shipping industry. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is now discussing a unified standard of shore power supply for vessels. The Marine Department will look into the technical feasibility of such standard after it is devised by the IMO.
(c) Beyond doubt, emissions from vessels impact on pollution and health to some extent. In 2002, the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) commissioned a study on the correlation between air pollution in Hong Kong and its impact on health to assess the impact of Hong Kong's main air pollutants (such as nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and respirable suspended particulates) on public health. The study, conducted by the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong, estimated that about 8,000 people were admitted to hospital each year for respiratory and cardiovascular diseases of which air pollution is a possible cause, and the medical costs incurred (including consultation and hospitalisation fees) amounted to about HK$1.7 billion annually. Since air pollutants originate from many sources such as motor vehicles, power stations, vessels and regional air pollution, the impact of an individual pollution source on public health cannot be quantified from monitoring data in the study.
Regarding the quantities of pollutants generated, the emissions inventory of the territory compiled by the EPD in 2005 indicated that the amounts of particulates, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds emitted by vessels accounted for 7%, 5%, 18% and 0.8% respectively of all pollutants generated locally. As the expanse of the sea facilitates the dispersal of pollutants, vessel emissions have less impact on air quality and public health than those from land pollution sources such as motor vehicles.
Ends/Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Issued at HKT 12:50
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