The London P&I Club has announced that ships calling at Chinese ports should be aware of PRC Regulations. As of 13 December 2016 the Chinese Ministry of Transport has issued a formal notice that disposal is no longer mandatory, so that the requirement to present a PDC has been abolished.
In particular, the regulation was first applied on 2011 and it required that international navigation vessels shall dispose of the pollutants on board before departing from a Chinese port. Vessels needed to present a valid pollutant disposal certificate to China’s Maritime Safety Authority (MSA) when dealing with port departure formalities.
Following amendments to the regulation in 2013, vessels were allowed to choose their port of convenience to dispose of the pollutants, in order to avoid ships having to dispose of pollutants and pay relevant fees repeatedly when calling at more than one Chinese port in one voyage.
However, this arrangement didn’t apply to ports within Bohai Bay, where vessels still needed to dispose of sludge and garbage on board before departure.
Further details can be found in an circular published by London P&I Club including information from the Correspondent, Huatai Insurance Agency and Consultant Service Limited, China:
Source: The London P&I Club
