News: China MSA publishes Guidance for Supervision and Management of Air Emissions from Ships

The 'Guidelines for Supervision and Management of Air Pollutant Emissions from Ships' by MSA China entered into force on 1 January 2020, with a view to providing guidance on the 'Implementation Scheme of 2020 Global Marine Fuel Oil Sulphur Cap'.
The guidelines focus on the following key points:

• Inspection of fuel oil carried onboard
• Alternative measures (ie exhaust gas cleaning systems)
• Submission and examination of the information regarding supply and use of fuel oil onboard ships

The Port State authorities may require to review documentation such as the ship’s engine log book, FONAR (if any), the waste gas cleaning system record book (if any) and the relevant bunker delivery note(s). The authorities will prioritise inspections of ships with illegal emission records and ships suspected of exceeding the IMO 2020 Sulphur cap.

By reviewing the aforementioned documents, the Port State authorities will assess whether ships with no alternative compliance measures carry exclusively fuel oil in accordance with the IMO 2020 Sulphur cap from 1 March 2020 onwards.
In cases of non-compliance, the guidelines provide the following remedies:

• Correction of irregularities
• Detention
• Fines spanning from CNY2,000 to CNY100,000

Categories: Alternative Fuels, Pollution