Low sulphur fuel requirements were implemented in all ports within the Yangtze River from 1st September 2017. The UK P&I Club have received the following update from its local correspondents on the issue.
An international one day seminar on oil pollution response was held in Rio de Janeiro on 31 August 2017, jointly sponsored by the UK Club, Petrobras/Transpetro and ITOPF, and was held at the Transpetro Academy.
UK Club correspondents have issued a circular on the low Sulphur fuel requirement to be implemented in all ports within Zhejiang ECA, China which include Ningbo, Zhoushan, Jiaxing, Taizhou, etc. from 1st Sep 2017.
The Club has been advised by our local correspondents that the Korea Coast Guard (former Ministry of Public Safety and Security) issued a notification stating that they have amended the regulations on the imposition and collection of oil spill response costs on 30th June, which will take effect on 1st September 2017.
Xiamen People's Government issued a Notice in late July to implement temporary regulatory and control measures over ships in the port area of Xiamen Bay during the upcoming BRIC meeting, which will be taking place from 3rd September to 5th September 2017.
This was a very poorly planned bunkering operation from the outset with an almost complete neglect of the company SMS procedures. The bunkering checklist was ticked off but not in fact implemented.
As from May 2018, it will be compulsory for vessels calling at ports in New Zealand to comply with the Craft Risk Management Standard (CRMS) for biofouling
The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has issued a new Advisory A‐15‐2017 which clarifies certain issues relating to requirements under the ACP's fuel regulations for all vessels transiting the Panama Canal.
The Panama Canal Authority issued and released the attached Advisory to Shipping No. A-04-2017 regarding manoeuvring requirements in Panama Canal waters.
The lengthy judicial proceedings in the French courts arising out of the sinking and massive oil spill from the tanker ERIKA off the coast of Brittany in December 1999, gave rise to numerous questions regarding the interaction between the international oil pollution liability conventions as incorporated into French law and other French legislation which claimants argued should apply. As a result legislation has been passed by France since the ERIKA judgements in an attempt to codify the Erika jurisprudence.
On 23 December, 2016, the US Coast Guard Marine Safety Center issued the second U.S. Coast Guard Ballast Water Management System Type Approval Certificate.
On 2 December, the USCG issued the first USCG Ballast Water Management System Type Approval Certificate to Norwegian manufacturer, Optimarin AS, the attached ECM Maritime Services Client alert 24-2016 reports.
The Limits of liability under the original LLMC 1996 protocol have been increased by 51% prompted by a number of high profile bunker pollution incidents, notably the Pacific Adventurer incident of Queensland, Australia in 2009.
The International Group (IG) has liaised further with the China MSA, and with various ship pollution response organisations (SPROs), Shipowners and other interested parties in order to clarify a number of issues and to work towards ensuring, so far as possible, that there are suitable contractual arrangements in place to permit Members to be able to comply with the Regulations as easily and efficiently as possible.
