The United Nations Human Rights Council has launched a study into how the UN's maritime agency regulates hazardous substances amid allegations of a “shipping-gate” scandal.

The International Maritime Organization has allowed ships to burn very low-sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) as part of the bunker rules introduced in 2020 to reduce sulphur emissions from shipping.

In a series of articles published by Forbes in recent weeks, Mauritian development economist Nishan Degnarain said VLSFO contains “a wide variety of undefined toxic chemicals” that put seafarers and...