An unnamed shipowner has reportedly fallen foul of Chinese authorities for flouting new sulphur emission rules in Emission Control Areas (ECA).
The Maritime Safety Administrations (MSA) in Heibei Province and Tianjin Municipality are said to have penalized the owner for the use of fuel with a sulphur content in excess of 0.5%, according to the American Club.
“It has been reported that, in conducting the supervision and inspection survey of the foreign vessel that arrived at Tianjin Port, the MSA officer suspected that the vessel was using non-compliant fuel,” the P&I club said in a circular to members.
“Sampling results showed that the sulfur content of the fuel of that ship was 0.866%, which exceeded the maximum content of 0.5% m/m.”
The American Club said this is the first reported case of the usage of non-compliant fuel in China since the second and more stringent stage of control measures was implemented since the start of 2017.
The latest control measure requires ships to use fuel with a sulfur content of no more than 0.5% during berthing at key ports, excluding one hour after anchorage and one hour before departure.
Following this incident there are said to have been at least two other foreign flagged vessels that have been penalized by the MSA for allegedly using non-compliant fuel.
The American Club said it understands that all of the 11 core ports in the applicable ECAs have started to implement the latest low sulfur content control measure and that local MSAs will strengthen inspections of ships berthing in port waters.
“Given these recently reported developments, it seems clear that the MSAs will continue to enforce the PRC ECA regulations and requirements vigorously,” it said.
“Members are urged to comply with the latest low sulfur content requirement to avoid any detention or other penalty."
