The amount of air pollution produced by ocean-going vessels is staggering. A single cargo ship can produce as much air pollution as 350,000 cars in an hour. These large, ocean-going ships operate on diesel engines the size of a single-family home, and most burn “bunker” fuel, which is cheap, but much more polluting than fuels used to power vehicles. Bunker fuel contains high concentrations of toxic compounds banned from use in most other industrial and consumer applications.

As global trade increases, global shipping is expected to double within the next decade, bringing shipping pollution to new highs. EPA estimates that emissions from ocean-going vessels will double their contributions to the national mobile source inventory of sulfur oxides and quadruple particulate matter -- both of which are major health threats. According to EPA, by 2030 shipping is expected to grow nearly three-fold over 2000 levels. This increased level of shipping not only degrades air quality, but also contributes to global warming and the acidification and eutrophication of waterways through deposition of carbon dioxide emissions.

Friends of the Earth is working at the local, state, national and international level to strengthen port regulations to protect local communities and waters, to enact health-protective national and international shipping standards, and to achieve global warming reductions from ocean-going vessels in order to attain pollution reductions worldwide.

International Maritime Organization

Friends of the Earth through our federation, Friends of the Earth International, has been working tirelessly to force the International Maritime Organization to strengthen international ship emissions standards. The IMO is the U.N. specialized agency that regulates international shipping and it is the central forum for addressing the environmental problems associated with ocean-going vessels. Instead of each nation developing its own set of rules for regulating ships, the IMO establishes uniform rules to harmonize the regulatory landscape. With much of the world’s oceans extending beyond the territorial waters and even exclusive economic zones of States, the regulation of shipping on the high seas falls squarely within the jurisdiction of the IMO. Friends of the Earth has a multi-faceted campaign to achieve key protections from shipping pollution at the IMO, where we seek mandatory measures to prevent accidental spills, stringent requirements to minimize pollution from routine discharges of oil and sewage, and air quality controls to reduce air pollution, including the discharge of black carbon from vessels.

Arctic shipping

Pacific Northwest shipping

No-discharge zone

The U.S. Clean Water Act No-Discharge Zone program establishes ocean and freshwater aquatic areas where ships and  boats are not allowed to discharge vessel sewage of any kind. The purpose of creating these zones is to protect human health, sensitive habitats, and aquatic organisms, birds and other animals utilizing the water from adverse impacts of vessel sewage. Within NDZ boundaries, vessel operators are required to  store sewage on board their ships for disposal at onshore pump-out facilities or outside the zone's boundaries. Most no-discharge zones are a result of states applying to the U.S. EPA to designate specific water bodies as such.