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Fathom Shipping - a provider of market intelligence products and services for the marine, energy and environment industries - and Lloyd’s Register - the maritime classification society and independent risk management organisation, have announced the launch of Emission Control Areas: The Guide.

The 111-page guide, which is accompanied by an onboard ECA manual, details the full scope of challenges of operating within an ECA, from analysis of compliance options to the practical steps of implementing ECA measures onboard, and capturing and recording data for Port State Control requirements.

The 0.10 percent 2015 ECA sulphur emission requirements are approaching, and the August, 2012, 1.00 percent North American ECA is only months away. Yet, in some cases, ship owners and operators are still unsure of the operational practices required to meet the legislation; and, currently crews, when required to do so, are implementing these practices sporadically and without strategy.

With the imminent North American ECA and the clock counting down to the more stringent requirements of 2015, Fathom and Lloyd’s Register have worked to compile one comprehensive reference manual for what owners, operators and their crews need to know to run an ECA compliant vessel.

"ECA regulations present significant challenges to ship owners and operators, particularly at a time when they are also worried by issues related to the current economic downturn and financial volatility," said Alison Jarabo, Managing Director of Fathom. "The ongoing debate on fuel switching, scrubbers and LNG, and which is the most appropriate solution in individual cases to use, is providing owners and operators with the need to make unprecedented decisions. Our aim with Emission Control Areas: The Guide is to assist a company with what it needs to know, from senior management to the engineer on-board, and provide them with the knowledge to be able to make a decision which is right for their business, so that that they can be prepared for change, rather than hampered by it, and avoid facing serious legal as well as operational issues."

The publication is split into two parts, a decision support reference guide on the accepted methods to ensure ECA compliance, and a thorough onboard guide to ECA zones, fuel switching, as well as reporting compliance. The guide also includes an updated 2012 edition of the bestselling Lloyd’s Register Sulphur Record Book.

Part one of the guide is a comprehensive outline of what ECA legislation details and the ramifications of operating within them at a corporate level. It also provides the benefits and challenges of each of the three currently available methods which will be used to achieve compliancy - switching to lower sulphur fuel, exhaust gas cleaning systems, and the use of LNG. The guide provides an independent perspective on each of these methods and a strategic evaluation to support individual decision-making.

Part two of the guide for use on-board vessels, and available as a stand-alone publication, is a complete analysis of ECA areas and the challenges of fuel switching from an on-board perspective. It is designed to provide a durable and comprehensive reference manual for ECA-coordinates, switchover considerations and procedures, statutory sampling, and record keeping.

The Lloyd's Register Sulphur Record Book 2012, now updated with the latest regulatory requirements, is a tool for the demonstration of compliance for port state control inspections. It is required that a physical record is available at all times, and the Lloyds Sulphur Record Book has been widely used across the global fleets since the first ECAs came into force.

Emission Control Areas: The Guide, written by Pete Lockley, Editor at Fathom, supported by Lloyd's Register FOBAS team is published by Fathom.