The role of Belgian airborne sniffer measurements in the MARPOL Annex VI enforcement chain

The Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences launched its airborne sniffer program in 2015 whereby a custom-built sniffer sensor was installed onboard the Belgian coastguard aircraft enabling the measurement of SO2 and NOx emitted by ocean-going vessels (OGVs). The data gathered on non-compliant OGVs were subsequently sent to port inspection authorities, who were then able to trigger inspections more rapidly than had they not had the data from the aircraft. This study reveals the added value of airborne alerts on port inspection effectiveness, a subject that had not been previously document... Mehr ...