Tag: SECA

  EMSA issued information for state authorities, ship owners, masters, fuel suppliers, agents or operators of ships on Directive 1999/32/EC. Operators should ensure that appropriate procedures are established on board and that the crew is familiar with them. Attention should be paid to the correct completion of ship logbooks, including the time when fuel changeover operations are performed. Ships using separate fuel oils to comply with the sulphur requirements, should carry a written procedure showing how the fuel oil changeover is to be achieved while entering or leaving the SECA. The procedure should allow sufficient time for the fuel oil service system to be fully flushed of all fuel oils exceeding the new applicable sulphur content, prior to entry into a SECA, in order to avoid any contamination. In addition, the volume of low sulphur fuel oils in each tank, as well as the date, time, and position of the ship when any fuel oil changeover operation has been completed prior to the entry into the SECA or commenced after exit from such an area, should be recorded in the logbook. Also, ships provided with an Oil Record Book Part I (Machinery Space Operations) must pay attention to the recording ...

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 ...

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. ...

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 ...

On 1 January 2015, new and stricter requirements for ships’ sulphur emissions take effect in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. In order to comply with the regulation ships must use fuels with a low sulphur content of 0.10 % or clean the exhaust gas for sulphur corresponding to the fuel limit value. A great number of ships are going through Danish waters without calling a Danish port. Surveillance of sulphur emission either from air of from fixed installations has been identified as an effective means to identify ships that may violate the sulphur requirements. Against this background the Danish Environmenta Protection Agency wishes to invite tenders for surveillance of sulphur emissions from ships in Danish waters. It should be stressed that the project addresses only measurement of the sulphur emissions and reporting of the results to the authorities. Any follow up actions are exclusively left in the hands of the authorities. Purpose  The purpose of the project is to support improvements of the air quality with specific focus on the reduction of the emission of sulphur and particulate matter from shipping.  The overall aim is to secure fair competition for ships operating in SECA areas. Non-compliant ships may get ...

Ships trading in designated emission control areas will have to use on board fuel oil with a sulphur content of no more than 0.10% from 1 January 2015, against the limit of 1.00% in effect up until 31 December 2014.  The stricter rules come into effect under the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution form ships (MARPOL) Annex VI (Regulations for the Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships), specifically under regulation 14, which covers emissions of Sulphur Oxides (SOx) and particulate matter from ships. These requirements were adopted in October 2008 by consensus and entered into force in July 2010. The emission control areas established under MARPOL Annex VI for SOx are: the Baltic Sea area; the North Sea area; the North American area (covering designated coastal areas off the United States and Canada); and the United States Caribbean Sea area (around Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands). Outside the emission control areas, the current limit for sulphur content of fuel oil is 3.50%, falling to 0.50% m/m on and after 1 January 2020. The 2020 date is subject to a review, to be completed by 2018, as to the availability of the required fuel oil. Depending ...

As from 1 January 2015, all ocean going vessels travelling within the Emission Control Areas (the “ECAs” as defined in the MARPOL Convention, including the English Channel, Baltic Sea, North Sea, North American and US Caribbean Sea areas) must use fuel oil with less than 0.1% sulphur. The controls apply to all fuel oil, defined in MARPOL Annex VI Regulation 2.9 as “any fuel delivered to and intended for combustion purposes for propulsion or operation on board a ship including distillate and residual fuels”. More information about the Marpol Convention can be accessed on the IMO website by clicking here.   It should be noted that the US Coast Guard has announced that the low sulphur measures will be strictly enforced in the North American and U.S. Caribbean Sea Emission Control Areas, with checks being made on Bunker Delivery Notes and other records during Port State and Flag State inspections, as well as fuel oil sampling and in-the-field screening for sulphur levels. The US Environmental Protection Agency has  produced guidance for Owners in circumstances where compliant fuel oil is unavailable (click here). Essentially, Owners and operators are required to make best efforts to comply with the ECA rules so that, in circumstances where ...

A new passenger ferry being built for Swedish operator Rederi AB Gotland will be fuelled by liquefied natural gas (LNG) and will feature a Wärtsilä integrated solution. The Wärtsilä integrated solution includes a complete LNG powered propulsion- and fuel storage and supply system, as well as comprehensive project services.This will be the first Swedish flagged LNG powered passenger vessel and the first LNG fuelled high speed RoPax ferry in the world. The vessel is being built at the Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI) yard in China and when delivered, will sail between the Swedish mainland and the island of Gotland. GSI placed the contract with Wärtsilä in November. By operating on LNG, the new 200 metre long ferry will comply with the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Tier III regulations regarding emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx). Furthermore, it will meet the sulphur (SOx) emissions limitations required for operating in the Northern European sulphur emissions controlled areas (SECA), while emissions of particulates will also be reduced to virtually zero. In addition to its compliance with emissions legislation, the ferry will also meet the requirements of the IMO’s recently agreed IGF Code regarding the safety of LNG fuelled ships. “This vessel will have a ...

At the Port of Gothenburg it is possible to sniff out ships that are being less than honest when it comes to emissions. Chalmers University Technology, in collaboration with the Port of Gothenburg, has fitted a 'sniffer' at the entrance to the port. The port now hopes that this technology will prove effective. From January 1, stricter emission regulations for ships will be introduced in the Baltic Sea, North Sea and English Channel, what is known as the SECA area. The regulations mean that the sulphur content in marine fuel is not permitted to exceed 0.1 per cent.  The potential for control was thought to be limited but here at the Port of Gothenburg the technology is already in place to sniff out vessels that are cheating with marine fuel," said Edvard Molitor, Senior Manager Environment at the Port of Gothenburg. The 'sniffer' has been developed by Chalmers University Technology with support from Vinnova, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and Gothenburg Port Authority. Johan Mellqvist, Associate Professor at the Department of Earth and Space Sciences at Chalmers University of Technology, said: "We have worked for almost 10 years to produce methods to monitor compliance with environmental regulations at sea, both ...