Tag: 2020 sulphur cap

For the first time all 16 SECA countries met for the Danish Maritime Authority’s (DMA) workshop on sulphur regulation enforcement. The leaving participants’ suitcases were filled with inspiration for strengthened national efforts and cross-country coordination. A total of 35 legal experts, port State control surveyors and naval architects from the authorities in Canada, the EU countries, Russia, the USA and the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) checked into the Konventum Conference Centre in Elsinore on 25 February. Here, they were striving – in a very concentrated manner and positive and curious spirit – to exchange experiences and generate ideas for an improved and more homogeneous enforcement of the sulphur regulations. During the course of the two days, the participants covered many different themes related to the legal as well as the technical challenges faced when enforcing the sulphur regulations – and they got closer to each other. Deputy Director-General of the Danish Maritime Authority Christian Breinholt says about the workshop: ”The opportunity was provided for a different and more creative process than what is usually seen in international work. And it paid off all the way round. The participants are pleased that we succeeded in gathering all the SECA countries ...

On 25 and 26 February, experts from all SECA countries will be meeting in Denmark. The purpose is to find solutions to the legal and technical challenges presented by the stricter sulphur regulations. It is one thing to lay down regulations; it is quite another thing to enforce them. Therefore, representatives of all 16 SECA countries and the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) will be meeting in Elsinore on 25-26 February for a workshop in an attempt to create a bridge between the two. The debate will cover everything from exhaust gas cleaning and port State control to issues such as the size of fines and the production of evidence in cases where sulphur emissions exceed the limits. Great international interest in Danish initiative The workshop has been arranged by the Danish Maritime Authority and it has generated great interest in the SECA countries, which are sending participants all the way from Canada, the USA and Russia in addition to participants from a number of EU countries. Deputy Director-General of the Danish Maritime Authority Christian Breinholt says: "It is a pleasure to see that all the SECA countries take the task enforcing the new regulations seriously. We are all faced with ...

The new sulphur emission regulations have been a hotly contended issue from the start but now debate has moved to their implementation, or more accurately, enforcing compliance. The enforcement of these regulations will be the driver of change, not the regulations themselves. Europort envisages opportunities for innovation not just in relation to the technologies employed in order to be compliant but also in relation to enforcement. Imaginative tools for detection abound, ranging from technology on vessels to ‘sniff out’ the use of heavy fuel oil to unmanned drones with emission sensors. Shipowners and operators should be deciding on which strategy to embrace for compliance not deciding whether or not to comply. However, inconsistent and weak rule enforcement, together with the prospect of potential punishments that are often insignificant, can create a ‘cost differential’ that amounts to a temptation not to comply at all. Industry analyst SeaIntel recently revealed in a survey: “Our analysis showed that a 4,500 teu vessel sailing at 16 knots from the entrance of the Channel to Hamburg, using 1% sulphur fuel instead of the mandated 0.1%, would save EUR12,000 – six times more than the German fine, and that is just one way.” However, failure to ...

As of 1 January 2015, ships operating in designated Sulphur Emission Control Areas (SECAs) have been required by law to use fuel oil with a sulphur content of no more than 0.10%, against the old limit of 1%. The Geos Group supplies low-sulphur 1000ppm marine gas oil exclusively and, since these stricter regulations have come into effect, we have noticed an increase in spot enquiries. “We have seen some uplift in spot demand for MGO since January”, says Adrian Proctor, Commercial Director of the Geos Group, “and we are in discussions with several customers about meeting their future fuel requirements on a contract basis – an arrangement that can ensure a secure, reliable supply source and more favourable pricing”. The emission control areas established under MARPOL Annex VI Regulation 14 are the North Sea, the Baltic Sea, North American coastal areas and the United States Caribbean Sea. It is likely that all ships worldwide will be subject to a new lower limit of 0.5% sulphur content in all fuel by 2020 – a global cap set by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). Source: Geos GroupIn the origin, I was forthright with you propecia before and after has changed my subsistence. ...

Drewry issued an article on its website, asking if the implementation of the new marine pollution regulation in North Europe and the US since January resulted in extra costs for shipping lines and shippers? Before the introduction of the low-sulphur marine fuel regulations in January, shipping lines warned that they would have to increase bunker surcharges, increase freight rates or introduce a new low-sulphur fuel surcharge to offset the extra cost of cleaner fuel. However, very little of this has actually happened since January, according to data gathered by Drewry and by the World Container Index. In principle, if fuel prices had stayed the same, the extra fuel cost on carriers of having to use the more expensive, low-sulphur marine gas oil in the protected Emission Control Areas was estimated at about US$29/teu from North Europe to US East Coast, US$49/teu from North Europe to US Gulf and US$21/teu from North Europe to Asia. From the Mediterranean to the Southern Hemisphere and from Asia to both the Southern Hemisphere and the Mediterranean, there are no Emission Control Areas and therefore no low-sulphur fuel cost impact on carriers. Source: DrewryIn the beginning, I was outspoken with you propecia before and after has ...

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has agreed that the shipping and bunker refining industries should work to the possibility that the global 0.5% sulphur in fuel cap, required by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), is more likely to be implemented worldwide from 2020, rather than 2025. Speaking after an ICS Board meeting in London, ICS Chairman, Masamichi Morooka, explained: “While postponement of the sulphur global cap until 2025 is still a possibility, the shipping and oil refining industries should not assume that this will happen simply because they are unprepared.  ICS has concluded that, for better or worse, the global cap is very likely to be implemented in 2020, almost regardless of the effect that any lack of availability of compliant fuel may have on the cost of moving world trade by sea”. ICS members have therefore agreed that they will continue to work with the bunker refiners to help ensure that they will be ready, if necessary, to supply sufficient quantities of compliant fuel by 2020.      Annex VI of the IMO MARPOL Convention allows for the possibility that implementation of the global sulphur cap – which will dramatically increase the cost of marine fuel for the ...

INTERTANKO has issued a press statement stating its approval for the recently completed European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) Sulphur Inspection Guidance supporting the implementation of Council Directive 1999/32/EC.   EMSA’s guidance aims to support a harmonized approach for the inspection of ships regarding the sulphur content of marine fuels, ascertaining their compliance, identifying non-compliances and applying control procedures for the enforcement of Council Directive 1999/32/EC.   “The guidelines are a result of extensive work under the European Sustainability Shipping Forum (ESSF) aimed to ensure enforcement of the EU Sulphur Directive,” said INTERTANKO Managing Director Katharina Stanzel. “We welcome these guidelines and commend the efforts to harmonize EU Member States’ approaches to ships.”   The EMSA Guidelines suggest that proof of compliance of sulphur content in fuels should be taken both at delivery to the ship and also onboard ships, taking samples of fuels used by the ships. INTERTANKO said it particularly supports the method of sampling at delivery to ship because it is related to the enforcement of the Article 4b.3 of the EU Sulphur Directive which states: "Member States shall ensure that gas oils are not placed on the market in their territory if the sulphur content of these ...

The UN International Maritime Organization (IMO) agreed to amend the guidelines on approval of exhaust gas cleaning systems. The intention is to make it easier to meet the sulphur limit values, for example in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. Now, it becomes easier to verify whether exhaust gas cleaning systems comply with the stricter limit values for sulphur emissions at sea. With the current regulations it is difficult for ship owners and manufacturers of exhaust gas cleaning systems to document the functioning of the systems. But last week, the second session of the IMO Sub-Committee on Pollution Prevention and Response (PPR 2) succeeded in reaching agreement on amendments to the verification method for approval of exhaust gas cleaning systems. This specifically means that, in the future, it will become possible – on the basis of calculations – to verify whether scrubbers meet the pH values in force for the washwater used to wash sulphur out of the exhaust gas. The amendment supplements the regulations in the area in force until now, which – rather onerously – dictated that pH measurements should be made in the vicinity of the ship during a sea voyage. It was originally Denmark that ...

The Korean Register (KR)  announces the launch of an in-house developed software program to assist vessels with fuel oil change over when complying with the new low sulphur regulations. From 1 January, MARPOL Annex VI Reg 14 requires vessels sailing within an emission control area (ECA) to burn fuel with a sulphur content of 0.1% or less. This means that ships must switch from normal fuel to low sulphur fuel before entering the restricted zone. KR's new software assesses fuel consumption at actual operating speed to calculate the time required to completely switch to a low sulphur fuel. The current practice is generally to rely on the experience of the chief engineer which KR has found often results in the vessel burning more of the expensive low sulphur fuel than is necessary. The new software (called fuel oil change over - FOCO) gives much more accurate timings that will save fuel and cost. The software also provides accurate technical data that can be used to report to port state control if change over times are questioned. On announcing this new program, KR's Chairman and CEO, Dr. B. S. Park said: "As a professional engineering service provider, we have developed a ...

A major, international information campaign on new, stricter sulphur requirements and their enforcement will be launched in February and, at the same time, cooperation between the so-called SECA countries is further strengthened. In February, there will be increased focus on the stricter sulphur limits that took effect on 1 January 2015 in the 16 SECA countries (Sulphur Emission Control Areas). All these countries, which include Russia, the USA and a number of EU countries, have united around a joint information campaign with the purpose of disseminating knowledge about the new requirements and their enforcement as widely as possible. In this connection, ships subject to port State control inspections in SECA countries will receive an information pamphlet, informing about the new regulations and asking a handful of control questions. It contains, inter alia, information about what the new requirements involve and how to comply with them. The pamphlet “New sulphur requirements” is available here. Director General of the Danish Maritime Authority Andreas Nordseth says: “With a joint and coordinated information campaign, the SECA countries are sending a strong signal to the global maritime industry: We stand united to secure reduced sulphur emissions from ships navigating our waters.” Denmark to host a workshop ...