China MSA has issued a Guidelines on supervising the implementation of ECA regulations. In accordance with the Guidelines, ships are required to correctly and accurately document bunkers changes on board, keep good record of bunker stemming certifications and any measures taken to prevent air pollution (like use of shore power, clean energy, exhaust air scrubbers etc.) MSA have the right to examine ships' documents and draw bunker samples for lab analysis, and upon finding use of substandard fuels, issue warnings, and/ or order correction actions, and/ or detain ships. Ships may also be imposed a fine up to RMB100,000 for failing to keep bunker stemming documentations and samples. A copy of the China MSA Guidelines and its free English translation provided by a local lawyer are available above.
From 1 September 2017, in Jiangsu and Zhenjiang provinces, the requirement of all ships at berth (1 hour after arrival and before departure are excluded) using low sulphur bunker (not exceeding 0.5%mm) is geographically expanded from the major ports to all ports within these two provinces.
Members are advised that effective 12:00pm, Thursday 22 July, South Australia transitioned from a 'low risk' state to a ‘medium risk’ state, advance warning of a FIC has also been given which will run in Australia from 1 August to 31 September 2021 to determine the level of compliance with the safety of navigation requirements of International Conventions and familiarity of the masters and officers with their processes for ensuring safety of navigation.
The UK P&I Club recently held the 16th in our series of Live Webinars, this time in collaboration with the Mission to Seafarers which focussed on Crew Health matters and in particular mental wellbeing.
