A proposal for an Emissions Control Area (ECA) across the Mediterranean could be submitted next year, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) said.
The IMO's head of air pollution and energy efficiency, Edmund Hughes, told S&P Global Platts' Bunker Fuel Conference in Amsterdam that there were discussions over a possible ECA in the Mediterranean for nitrous oxide (NOx) and sulphur emissions.
ECAs aim to cut emissions from ships near land in the hope of improving human health and mitigating pollution of the seas caused by shipping.
The onus for creating a proposal for a Mediterranean ECA would be on the 22 member states of the Barcelona Convention, he said.
The Italian and French environment ministries recently issued a joint call for the introduction of an ECA in the Mediterranean, although Cyprus, Greece, and Malta have previously opposed the move. The Barcelona Convention holds its annual meeting in December.
US President Donald Trump's administration has expressed scepticism over a sulphur cap on emissions from ships to be imposed by the IMO next year. From 1 January, 2020, ship's bunker fuel will be allowed to contain no more than 0.5pc sulphur, down from 3.5pc now.
The White House has advocated a slower implementation, so that "IMO 2020 occurs in a manner that is not harmful to consumers and the global economy". But Hughes told the conference the IMO's sulphur cap regulation would go ahead as planned on 1 January 2020.
Hughes said it was up to member states to determine how the IMO's new rules were enforced.
"The level of penalties is very much the prerogative of the port state's government," he said, adding that governments were reviewing their penalties to ensure they were tough enough financially to offset any commercial advantage from using non-compliant fuel oil.
The IMO last week agreed a standard format for reporting the availability of compliant fuel oil.
