The ECAs were established under
MARPOL annex VI for SOX and include the Baltic Sea
area, the North Sea area, the North American Atlantic
area, and the United States Caribbean Sea area. Ships
trading in ECAs are required to use fuel oil with a sulphur
content of no more than 0.10 per cent from 1 January
2015. The previous limit was 1.00 per cent (IMO, 2015).