The maritime authorities of the Paris and the Tokyo Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) on Port State Control started issuing letters of warning from 1 January 2019 on the sulphur content of marine fuels during inspections to increase awareness of the 1 January 2020 compliance date and reduce detentions.
The letter (see illustration above) contains a list of check boxes that form the investigation into compliance with fuel oils with a maximum sulphur content of 0.5% in accordance with MARPOL Annex VI regulation. The check boxes comprise:
The letter contains the phrase “Deficiencies in the areas listed above may be recorded by the Paris MoU if the regulations were in place now” meaning the vessel and any deficiencies will be listed in the Paris MoU database as if the IMO global sulphur cap regulation was already in place.
This could provide a list of target vessels for PSC inspection in 2020.
The aim of issuing the letter of warning to vessels and Captains 12 months in advance of implementation is to create awareness among Captains and ship operators of the forthcoming regulation.
The letter of warning advises that from 1 January 2020 Port State Control officers will put further emphasis on the following items:
Failure to meet the above obligations could result in detention of the vessel, warns the Paris MoU.
Business, operational and technical issues impacting the crude, product and chemical tanker trades will be discussed at the Asian Tanker Conference in Singapore in February.
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