Sulphur limits and ECAs in 2026: where 0.10% fuel applies

The global sulphur cap is 0.50%, but a growing share of the world's busiest waters now requires 0.10%. This guide lists the emission control areas where 0.10% already applies, those adopted with limits still to come, the main regional rules and the practical steps for a compliant changeover.

The baseline

Under MARPOL Annex VI regulation 14, fuel used outside emission control areas must not exceed 0.50% m/m sulphur, a limit in force since 1 January 2020. Inside sulphur emission control areas the limit has been 0.10% m/m since 1 January 2015. Ships fitted with an approved exhaust gas cleaning system may use higher-sulphur fuel instead, provided the system meets the equivalent emission performance.

Each ECA has three dates that matter: adoption by the IMO, entry into force of the amendment, and the date from which the fuel limit actually applies to ships. For a newly designated area, the sulphur limit applies 12 months after entry into force.

ECAs where 0.10% already applies

• Baltic Sea: SOx ECA in effect since 19 May 2006.
• North Sea, including the English Channel: in effect since 22 November 2007.
• North American ECA, covering the coasts of the United States and Canada: in effect since 1 August 2012.
• United States Caribbean Sea ECA, around Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands: in effect since 1 January 2014.
• Mediterranean Sea: adopted in December 2022, in force since 1 May 2024 and in effect since 1 May 2025. It covers SOx and particulate matter, not NOx.

In all of these areas the limit is 0.10% m/m, unless an approved scrubber is used.

Adopted ECAs with limits still to apply

Three further areas have been adopted and will extend 0.10% requirements across the North Atlantic and Arctic.

• Canadian Arctic: adopted at MEPC 82 in October 2024 by resolution MEPC.392(82), entered into force on 1 March 2026. The 0.10% sulphur limit applies from 1 March 2027. The area extends the North American ECA to Canada's Arctic waters.
• Norwegian Sea: adopted at the same session, entered into force on 1 March 2026, with the sulphur limit applying from 1 March 2027. It extends the North Sea ECA northwards from 62°N to cover the Norwegian exclusive economic zone up to the Russian border.
• North-East Atlantic: adopted at MEPC 84 on 1 May 2026 by resolution MEPC.407(84). It enters into force on 1 September 2027, and the 0.10% sulphur limit applies from 1 September 2028. It covers the territorial seas and exclusive economic zones of Portugal, Spain, France, Ireland, mainland UK, Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland, outside existing ECAs. The zones around Madeira, the Azores and the Canary Islands are excluded.

Once all three apply, a continuous band of ECA waters will link the Canadian Arctic, Norwegian Sea, North Sea and Mediterranean ECAs. Voyage and bunker planning for northern European and North Atlantic trades should already take the 2027 and 2028 dates into account.

EU ports: 0.10% at berth

Under Article 7 of the EU Sulphur Directive, Directive (EU) 2016/802, ships at berth in EU ports must not use fuel above 0.10% sulphur, wherever the port is located and whether or not it lies inside an ECA. Crew must complete the changeover as soon as possible after arrival and as late as possible before departure, and record the times in the ship's logs.

The rule does not apply when, according to published timetables, the ship is due to be at berth for less than two hours, or when it switches off all engines and uses shore-side electricity. The directive treats a ship as at berth when it is securely moored or anchored in an EU port while loading, unloading or hotelling, so anchoring within port limits can count. Check local practice with the agent.

Other national and regional rules

• China: its domestic emission control areas set a 0.50% limit in coastal waters from 1 January 2019, a 0.10% limit on inland waterways including the Yangtze and Xijiang rivers from 1 January 2020, and 0.10% in the Hainan domestic area from 1 January 2022.
• California: the state's ocean-going vessel fuel regulation requires distillate fuel, marine gas oil or marine diesel oil, at no more than 0.10% sulphur within 24 nautical miles of the California baseline. It applies to main and auxiliary engines and auxiliary boilers.
• Wash-water rules: a number of ports and coastal states restrict or prohibit discharge from open-loop scrubbers, which can oblige scrubber-fitted ships to burn compliant fuel locally.

Local rules change more often than IMO ones. Confirm requirements with the port agent and flag guidance before each new trade.

Planning a compliant changeover

MARPOL Annex VI requires ships using separate fuels to carry a written changeover procedure. It must show how long it takes to flush the fuel system of higher-sulphur fuel so that the ship is fully on compliant fuel before it crosses into the ECA.

1. Calculate the changeover time from the volume of the service system, the consumption rate and the sulphur content of both fuels. Changeover is a gradual dilution, not an instant switch.
2. Plan to complete it well before the ECA boundary, away from busy traffic lanes, narrow channels and pilotage.
3. Follow the engine maker's guidance on temperature change rates and minimum viscosity to protect fuel pumps and injection equipment.
4. Record the volume of compliant fuel in each tank, and the date, time and position at which changeover was completed before entry, or started after leaving the area.
5. Bunker enough compliant fuel for the full ECA passage, port stays and a margin for delays.
6. If compliant fuel genuinely cannot be obtained, document the efforts made and submit a fuel oil non-availability report to the flag state and the next port.

What this means for bunker planning

As more coastline moves to 0.10%, many ships will need larger quantities of MGO or 0.10% fuel, and tank capacity for compliant fuel becomes an operational constraint. Atlas Bunkering helps owners and managers source each grade from trusted suppliers along the route, and recommends independent surveying and accredited testing on every stem, which can be arranged on request.

Questions and answers

Sources

1. IMO MEPC.1/Circ.778/Rev.4: Special Areas and Emission Control Areas under MARPOL
2. DNV: New ECAs for the Canadian Arctic, Norwegian Sea and North-East Atlantic Ocean
3. DNV: North-east Atlantic joins the expanding network of ECAs
4. Gard: World's largest ECA adopted by the IMO (North-East Atlantic, MEPC 84)
5. Directive (EU) 2016/802, Article 7: ships at berth (legislation.gov.uk copy)
6. BIMCO: China to release new domestic emission control area regulation
7. California Air Resources Board: Marine Notice 2020-2, ocean-going vessel fuel regulation

This guide is general information, not legal or technical advice. Check the current rules and your engine maker's guidance for your vessel.