While Russia does not currently support a ban on HFO use and the carriage of HFO for use as fuel in the Arctic, it welcomed a proposal submitted by Canada, Finland, Germany, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway and the U.S. at the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 71) calling for work to begin on mitigating the risks of use and carriage of heavy fuel oil (HFO) as fuel by ships in the Arctic. In addition, in July of 2017, Russia’s Natural Resources Minister, Sergei Donskoi, suggested that it “would be good to reduce the use of heavy fuel oil (HFO) in the Arctic”.[1]
[1] See Serjgei Donski, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment speaking in favor of the reduction of HFO in the Arctic, The Arctic (July 25, 2017) available at: http://arctic.ru/environmental/20170725/649237.html