China tightens 2020 sulphur cap regime

Having already imposed the 0.5% limit on ship sulphur emissions in most of its territorial waters this year, China has now issued further details of the intended regime come 2020.

 

The draft plan issued by the Ministry of Transport is for the most part in line with that of the International Maritime Organisation, mandating that vessels must use fuels that emit less than 0.5% sulphur content. The carriage of non-compliant fuels will be prohibited from 1 March 2020.

 

Where the MoT plan differs from that of the IMO is in its treatment of vessel with open-loop scrubbers. In January this year China announced the banning of the discharge of wash water from open-loop scrubbers on the country’s inland river ECAs, port waters of the coastal ECAs, and the Bohai Rim. With the latest plan the proposed ban has been extended to all maritime areas under the country’s jurisdiction, thus having an impact on the cost savings of using high sulphur fuel.

 

While there has been controversy over the polluting impact of using open loop scrubbers. With the Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems Association insisting that such systems have close to zero impact on harbour waters, China’s Maritime Safety Administration has maintained that waste water containing high level of poly-cyclic aromatic hydrocarbons is s potential contaminant of China seas’ ecology.

 

Further restrictions contained in the plan, which has been made available for review until 22 August, include a 0.1% sulphur cap along China’s inland water ECAs such as those along the Yangtze and Pearl River deltas from 1 January 2020. This will be extended to Hainan Island from 1 January 2022.

 

Violations of the sulphur cap rules will be subject to punishment in accordance with China’s Law on the Prevention and Control of Atmospheric Pollution. Under the law, a vessel burning non-compliant fuel can face a penalty of Rmb10,000 ($1,453) up to Rmb100,000.

 

Source:hongkongmaritimehub

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