DNV GL has issued its first statement of compliance with the IMO Tier III NOx emission limits and its first approval of an engine equipped with a selective catalytic reduction system. Pending the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee’s final vote on this year’s proposal to postpone the entry into force of Tier III, manufacturers are continuing their work to meet the initial deadline.

This first statement of compliance with IMO Tier III NOx emission limits was issued by DNV GL’s Approval Centre Norway to Daihatsu Diesel Mfg. Co. Ltd. on 6 November 2013, following September’s compliance test at Daihatsu’s Moriyama factory. The engine, which is equipped with a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system, is furthermore the first to be approved by DNV GL as being in compliance with IMO Resolution MEPC.198(62).

Regulations and controversy
Adopted in 2008, the IMO Tier III NOx limits were to be applicable to ships keel laid as from 1 January 2016 when sailing in areas designated by IMO as Emission Control Areas (ECAs). The limits are about 75% lower than those of the currently applicable Tier II. However, at the 65th session of the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee in London in May 2013, a proposal to postpone the entry into force of the IMO Tier III NOx limits for ship engines by five years was passed by a marginal majority. The regulatory outcome will be finally decided by a new vote at MEPC’s next session in March 2014.

Increasing demand for NOx approval
Despite the uncertainty, DNV GL is experiencing a continuing increase in requests for approval in accordance with the IMO Tier III NOx emission limits. “Several of the major manufacturers have indicated that the postponement proposal does not impact on their development of NOx-reducing technologies,” says Stine Mundal, machinery approval engineer and project manager for Selective Catalytic Reduction competence building at DNV GL’s Approval Centre Norway. “They have already invested heavily to reduce NOx emissions by the 2016 deadline and proven technologies like SCR are in place,” says Mundal.
Source: DNV GL