EMSA’s guidance aims to support a harmonised approach for the inspection of ships regarding the sulphur content of marine fuels, ascertaining their compliance, identifying non-compliances and applying control procedures for the enforcement of Council Directive 1999/32/EC.
“The guidelines are a result of extensive work under the European Sustainability Shipping Forum (ESSF) aimed to ensure enforcement of the EU Sulphur Directive,” said INTERTANKO managing director Katharina Stanzel. “We welcome these guidelines and commend the efforts to harmonise EU member states’ approaches to ships.”
The EMSA Guidelines suggest that proof of compliance of sulphur content in fuels should be taken both at delivery to the ship and also on board ships, taking samples of fuels used by the ships.
In particular, INTERTANKO said that it supports the sampling method at the delivery point to the ship, as it is related to the enforcement of the Article 4b.3 of the EU Sulphur Directive which states ‘Member states shall ensure that gas oils are not placed on the market in their territory if the sulphur content of these marine gas oils exceeds 0.10% by mass.”
With regard to the new fuel sampling in ships’ engine rooms, INTERTANKO welcomed standardisation of such a practice and the request for quality evidence from laboratories running tests on fuel samples.
“INTERTANKO, which participates in the ESSF activities, is pleased to see harmonised enforcement, and advocates a balanced approach, not only implementing control measures on ships, but also ensuring fuels delivered to ships are ECA compliant”, said Ian Harrison, INTERTANKO senior technical manager.