According to an article posted at South China Morning Post, Shenzhen plans to spend 200m yuan on cash to encourage firms to switch to low- sulphur fuel while at berth to cut emissions. The Shenzhen government will subsidise between 75 and 100 per cent of the extra costs incurred in the voluntary at-berth switch to fuel with a maximum 0.5 per cent sulphur content, which is more expensive than regular marine bunker that contains 3 to 3.5 per cent sulphur. The scheme will take effect next month and last for three years.
In 2011, 19 shipping firms came together in Hong Kong to voluntarily switch to low-sulphur fuel at berth, bearing the entire extra bunker costs – an average of US$2 million a year – themselves. Known as the Fair Winds Charter, the endeavour did not receive cash subsidies from the city’s government until September last year, when a three-year grant was rolled out that offset up to 50 per cent of the switch costs.
Bunker bills generally account for 20 to 30 per cent in the operational costs of shipping lines, which have been hit by heavy losses in a protracted industry slump.
The Fair Winds Charter also led to a legislative effort in Hong Kong. The Department of Justice is drafting a bill to mandate a switch to low-sulphur fuel for all ocean-going vessels docking at the city’s terminals, the first such legislation in Asia.
The government initially planned to table the bill to the Legislative Council before the summer recess, aiming for the legislation to come into effect early next year.
While mooring at ports, cargo ships contribute to 66 per cent of sulphur dioxide emissions in Shenzhen. In Hong Kong, the proportion is 78 per cent, government statistics show.
Shenzhen was pushing for a sulphur emission control area that would cover the Pearl River Delta by 2018, said Li Shuisheng, deputy director of Shenzhen’s Human Settlements and Environment Commission.
Further information may be found at South China Morning Post
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