Despite heavy fuel oil ban, Arctic marine biodiversity still threatened

The pristine Arctic ecosystem faces an ongoing threat from heavy fuel oils (HFOs), despite an upcoming ban aimed at curbing their use. The ban, set to take effect on 1 July 2024, is an important step but leaves significant gaps that continue to endanger Arctic marine biodiversity.

Large oil spills, defined as release of liquid petroleum products into the environment, have destructive impacts on marine and coastal ecosystems, no matter what region of the world they occur. In the Arctic region, these impacts can be even more catastrophic. Heavy fuel oil (HFO), the world’s dirtiest and most hazardous marine fuel, are predominant used in Arctic shipping.

Given the region’s remoteness, lack of response infrastructure, and hazardous navigation conditions in Arctic waters, clean up operations are extremely difficult and delayed. HFO’s high viscosity causes it to emulsify on ocean surfaces, harming wildlife. Arctic marine species, such as seabirds and marine mammals, are particularly vulnerable due to their  tendency  to gather in numbers for breeding, migration, feeding, resting and moulting. The long-life spans and slow reproductive rates of many Arctic species also hinder their ability to recover from spills. Moreover, the Arctic’s relatively short food web means that an oil spill can have cascading effects on an entire  ecosystem.

In cold Arctic waters, spilled HFOs become trapped in ice and sink to the ocean floor, mixing with the seabed sediment. During summer, these oils can float to shorelines, contaminating coastal areas and harming coastal and Indigenous communities, many of whom rely on subsistence harvest of marine animals for their livelihood. In addition, HFO combustion emits black carbon, a short-lived climate pollutant with multiple negative impacts on ecosystems and human health.

The HFO ban and the loopholes

Responding to these catastrophic risks to marine and coastal environments, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) introduced a ban on the use and carriage for use of HFO in Arctic waters. While this ban, effective July 1st, 2024, is a significant step forward, it contains many loopholes that will persist until 2029. The ban only covers 16 per cent of HFO burned and 30 per cent of HFO carried as fuel, excluding HFO cargoes entirely. Thus the risk of HFO spills in sensitive Arctic marine ecosystems remains high.

According to the WWF working paper, Mapping the Threats of Carrying and Using Heavy Fuel Oil in Arctic Marine and Coastal Areas, there is a high spatial overlap between Arctic shipping traffic carrying or using HFO and  marine ecosystems with high conservation value. These areas include breeding aggregations of seabirds, whales and walrus, winter habitats for whales, migration corridors for marine mammals, and hotspots for benthic biomass and kelp forests. The Kara Strait-Pechora Sea area, the Bering Strait area, and the Davis Strait-Baffin Bay-Hudson Strait area are particularly vulnerable because these areas are the bottleneck for both shipping traffic and marine mammal migration.

Shipping traffic in the Arctic is increasing. From 2021 to 2023, the number of unique ships in the area increased by 37 per cent, driven by receding ice and expanding mineral extraction activities. Notably, fuel consumption by vessels operating in the Arctic has surged over the past decade,  particularly among LNG tankers, cargo ships, oil tankers and bulk carriers. Many of these vessels lack the  ice-strengthening characteristics necessary for safe navigation in polar waters.

With anticipated growth in mineral and hydrocarbon production in the Arctic, the use and carriage of HFOs will continue to increase, further exacerbating the already significant risks of oil spills in these unique marine ecosystems.

The need to mitigate risks

To mitigate these risks, Arctic states and marine industries must close the loopholes in the HFO ban and stop granting waivers to domestic vessels. If full compliance is not feasible, the following  measures should be implemented:

• Area-based conservation measures: Implement route restrictions, speed reductions, areas to avoid, and pilotage regimes to ensure safe, low-impact operations in sensitive marine areas and near harvest sites.
• Emission Control Areas (ECAs): Support the establishment of  ECAs throughout the Arctic and mandate the use of cleaner fuels, such as distillate marine fuels, to reduce spill impacts and achieve co-benefits like reduced black carbon emissions.
• Shipping Management Plans: Develop comprehensive plans for managing shipping in focus areas outlined in the WWF working paper, especially bottleneck regions where intense shipping traffic overlaps with marine mammal migration corridors.
• Ice-Strengthening Requirements: Mandate that oil and gas tankers, bulk carriers and cargo vessels operating in Arctic waters meet the ice-strengthening requirements, outlined in the Polar Code.

While the upcoming HFO Ban is a step in the right direction, its current limitations leave the Arctic’s unique and fragile marine ecosystems at risk. By addressing these gaps and implementing additional protective measures, Arctic states and the shipping industry can significantly reduce the threat posed by heavy fuel oils and help preserve this vital region for future generations.

Note: Thanks to Melanie Lancaster, Senior Specialist, Arctic Species, WWF Global Arctic Programme, for providing valuable insights on the impacts of HFO spills on Arctic marine biodiversity.