The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has approved and adopted a comprehensive set of guidance and guidelines to support the consistent implementation of the lower 0.50% limit on sulfur in ships’ fuel oil, as the new sulfur cap is set to enter into effect from January 1, 2020.
Related draft International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) amendments were also approved, IMO said in a statement.
It said the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), meeting for its 74th session from May 13 to 17, approved various guidance and guidelines to support the implementation of IMO 2020, taking the following actions:
- Adopted 2019 Guidelines for consistent implementation of the 0.50% sulfur limit under MARPOL Annex VI—with sections on the impact on fuel and machinery systems resulting from new fuel blends or fuel types; verification issues and control mechanism and actions, including port state control and samples of fuel oil used on board; a standard reporting format for fuel oil non-availability; and possible safety implications relating to fuel oils meeting the 0.50% sulfur limit.
- Adopted 2019 Guidelines for port state control under MARPOL Annex VI Chapter 3, providing updated enforcement guidance for provisions including regulation 13 “nitrogen oxides” and regulation 14 “sulphur oxides and particulate matter.”
- Approved Guidance on indication of ongoing compliance in case of failure of a single monitoring instrument, and recommended actions to take if the exhaust gas cleaning system (EGCS) fails to meet the provision of the Guidelines.
- Approved Guidance for port state control on contingency measures for addressing non-compliant fuel oil. The guidance covers possible actions to be taken, following discussions between ship, flag state and port state, when a ship is found to have on board non-compliant fuel oil either as a consequence of compliant fuel oil being not available when the ship bunkered fuel oil or the ship identifying through post bunkering testing that the fuel oil on board is non-compliant.
- Approved the 2019 Guidelines for on-board sampling to verify sulfur content of the fuel oil used on board ships.
- Approved an MSC-MEPC circular on delivery of compliant fuel oil by suppliers, subject to approval by the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC 101) in June. The draft circular says member states should urge fuel oil suppliers to take into account, as relevant: MEPC.1/Circ.875 Guidance on best practice for fuel oil purchasers/users for assuring the quality of fuel oil used on board ships; and MEPC.1/Circ.875/Add.1 Guidance on best practice for fuel oil suppliers for assuring the quality of fuel oil delivered to ships.
- Approved guidance for best practice for member states/coastal states. This includes best practices intended to assist member states to carry out their responsibilities under MARPOL Annex VI, to ensure effective implementation and enforcement of statutory requirements of that Annex. The guidance says member states/coastal states should consider actions deemed appropriate, under domestic legal arrangements, to promote the availability of compliant fuel oils, consistent with regulation 18.1 of MARPOL Annex VI; and member states or other relevant authorities desiring to do so may decide to establish or promote a licensing scheme for bunker suppliers.
A related MARPOL Annex VI amendment to prohibit the carriage of non-compliant fuel oil used by ships, which was adopted last year, is expected to enter into force on March 1, 2020.
To support consistent implementation of regulation 14 of MARPOL Annex VI, MEPC approved draft amendments to MARPOL Annex VI to regulations 1, 2, 14 and 18, appendix I and appendix VI of MARPOL Annex VI, with a view to adoption at MEPC 75, with an expected entry force date of September 2021.
The MEPC also approved a circular to encourage early application of the approved amendments to the verification procedures for a MARPOL Annex VI fuel oil sample.
Meanwhile, the Sub-Committee on Pollution Prevention and Response (PPR) is reviewing the 2015 Guidelines on Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems (EGCS). The guidelines include, among other things, washwater discharge standards. This as some ships use EGCS (“scrubbers”), accepted by their flag states as an alternative equivalent means to meet the sulphur limit requirement.
The MEPC approved a new output on “Evaluation and harmonization of rules and guidance on the discharge of liquid effluents from EGCS into waters, including conditions and areas”, in the 2020-2021 biennial agenda of the PPR Sub-Committee and the provisional agenda for PPR 7 (meeting in February 2020), with a target completion year of 2021.
PPR 7 is expected to further review the documents that were submitted to MEPC 74 in relation to the newly approved output, with a view to refining the title and scope of the output and will report the outcome of its consideration to MEPC.
The MEPC approved, in principle, draft amendments to the 2010 Guidelines, as amended, for monitoring the worldwide average sulfur content of fuel oils supplied for use on board ships. The draft amendments update the IMO sulfur monitoring program to take into account the entry into effect of the 0.50% sulfur limit from January 1, 2020 and the potential types of fuel oils which will be used to comply with this limit and which will be required.
Meantime, the International Chamber of Shipping said in a statement May 17 that it approved of the new IMO regulations as these would allow the shipping industry to improve its carbon efficiency by at least 40% by 2030 compared to 2008, in line with IMO targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
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