Large single-hulled oil tankers will be eliminated from the world’s waterways within four years. The International Maritime Organisation has set a 2005 deadline for the elimination of single-hulled tankers with a capacity of more than 20,000 tonnes.

Smaller single-hulled tankers will be banned from 2021. The European Union will bar all single-hulled tankers by 2015 – a move that brings the EU into line with the United States.