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Web Alert: Early implementation of low sulphur fuel oil (0.5%) requirement for ships in Yangtze River Delta ECA (from 1 Oct 2018)
News & Insights 11 September 2018
This move comes ahead of the original timeline of Chinese ECA regulation. The implementation in the Pearl River Delta and Bohai Sea Area ECAs remains unchanged.
Members are advised that in accordance with the latest requirements from the Maritime Safety Administration (MSA) of Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces (within the Yangtze River Delta ECA), from 1 October 2018, all ships (excluding warships/military ships, sport ships/boats, or fishing ships/vessels) will be required to use fuel with a sulphur content not exceeding 0.5%m/m while navigating and berthing within the provinces’ waters and port areas.
This move comes ahead of the original timeline of Chinese ECA regulation and the implementation in the Pearl River Delta and Bohai Sea Area ECAs remains unchanged, ie the requirement to burn compliant fuel at all times inside these ECAs will take effect as per the original timeline of 1 January 2019. For members' reference, below is an update on the Chinese ECA timeline -
|
Timeline |
ECA(s) |
Ports |
Fuel required |
Period of time applied |
|
1 Apr 2016 |
Yangtze River Delta |
Shanghai, Ningbo-Zhoushan, Suzhou & Nantong |
Sulphur content of no more than 0.5%
|
1 hour after berthing to 1 hour before departure |
|
1 Oct 2016 |
Pearl River Delta |
Shenzhen, Yantian, Shekou, Chiwan, Mawan and Dachan Bay |
1 hour after berthing to 1 hour before departure |
|
|
1 Jan 2017 |
Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, Bohai Sea Area |
11 KEY ports: Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Zhuhai, Shanghai, Ningbo-Zhoushan, Suzhou, Nantong, Tianjin, Qinhuangdao, Tangshan, Huanghua |
1 hour after berthing to 1 hour before departure |
|
|
1 Sept 2017 |
Yangtze River Delta |
ALL ports in Yangtze River Delta ECA |
1 hour after berthing to 1 hour before departure |
|
|
1 Jan 2018 |
Pearl River Delta, Bohai Sea Area |
ALL ports |
1 hour after berthing to 1 hour before departure |
|
|
1 Oct 2018 |
Yangtze River Delta |
Sea area, inland waters, all ports in ECAs |
Before entering in ECAs |
|
|
1 Jan 2019 |
Pearl River Delta, Bohai Sea Area |
Sea area, inland waters, all ports in ECAs |
Before entering in ECAs |
Members are therefore recommended to ensure that their ships burn compliant fuel with sulphur content not exceeding 0.5% at all times while operating inside the Yangtze River Delta ECA. Any fuel change-over operation should be completed before entering or commenced after exiting from the Yangtze River Delta ECA.
For more details, please refer to the attached circulars from Huatai, CCS and KR Class.
Categories: Alternative Fuels, Pollution
