The Portuguese Maritime Administration issued a circular to to give some additional guidance regarding the procedure to be followed by Portuguese Flagged vessels in case of non-availability of compliant fuel-oil as prescribed by MARPOL Annex VI.
As the new environmental regulations came into force on the 1st of January 2020, fuel compliance is important, as if not followed, vessels and shipping companies will have to face the consequences.
Therefore, Portugal advises that under the possibility of inability to obtain compliant fuel despite best effort, the Company/Master must immediately notify the Flag Administration and the Port State Administration of arrival port and provides the steps to be taken to define a common reporting procedure.
In essence:
Information to be provided to flag administration and port state:
- Fonar form
- Evidences supporting FONAR Form contents
Additional reguirements:
- Every time there is a need to send a FONAR Companies and Masters are required to fulfil Record Form of Appendix 2 of this Circular. This Form is to be provided on demand to Flag Administration and shall be kept on board along with FONAR.
When investigating non-availability:
In order to avoid ships to use ports where it is known that compliant fuel is not available on an ongoing basis, the Administration decided to have on special focus the following cases, but not
limited to:
- Ships that reported more than 5 times during the last 3 years for Fuel Non-Availability;
- Ships that didn’t take necessary measures when less than 30% of fuel capacity was available onboard.
Exemptions, waivers and equivalents:
It is highlighted that a fuel oil non-availability report is not an exemption.
According to regulation 18.2 of MARPOL Annex VI, it is the responsibility of the Party of the destination port, through its competent authority, to scrutinize the information provided and take action, as appropriate.
Concluding, for more information click herebelow
