Assessment of the international maritime regulations’ impact in the North & Baltic Sea

Abstract For over 15 years, international regulations have been established to address SO 2 and NO x emissions from shipping. In Europe, the tightest restrictions on SO 2 and NO x came into effect only recently. For regions outside designated emission control areas, stricter SO 2 limits were introduced in 2020. Although research indicated that these regulations would provide significant health and environmental benefits, there remained a gap in understanding their effectiveness in reducing real-world ship emissions following implementation. This study addresses this gap through an analysis of more than 110,000 measured ship plumes, ship inspection results and satellite data. The study revealed that sulfur compliance rates are higher near ports than in open waters. Moreover, the study revealed the regulations had no effect on NO x emission regulations, on the contrary the study reveals NO x pollution has risen in the past three years. These findings highlight the need for more effective regulations to address ship emissions.