Critical Impact of EU Sulfur Limits for Marine Operators
The European Union imposed a 0.1% limit on marine fuel sulfur, which came into effect on January 1, 2010. A survey by DNV Petroleum Services has revealed several critical areas of impact of the new regulations. The survey was conducted across 65 shipping companies who all responded to the survey by DNV.
40% of the respondents indicated that there was a lack of harmony across all of the EU states involved. This is surprising given that a fundamental building block of the EU is the harmonization of regulations across the trading bloc. Of particular concern were the variations in how different states were applying the emission standards and different methods of establishing compliance with the law. This has led to confusion within shipping companies, and a decrease in confidence in the regulatory powers by the industry generally.
When the regulations were announced, ship owners moved to adapt existing pump installations to handle the situation. Now, as there is such difference between how states are enforcing the standard, there is much consternation over whether changes implemented aboard vessels to handle oil burning while in port will be effective.
A further critical issue was that 40% of respondents did not have the ability within their existing tank installations to separate oil types. 15% reported considerable filter blockage and pump seizures during oil switching between marine oil (with sulfur) and gas oil used for burning in port.
Just under a third of respondents failed to test their oil purchases as a matter of routine. This can potentially have the ability to create significant engine damage if non-compliant oil is purchased and used. Aside from engine damage and the risk of enforcement action by EU regulators, this poses a significant elevation of risk to the cargo being carried and to the crew.
One bright point of the survey was that 90% of respondents believed their crews had had sufficient training and understanding to deal with EU sulfur emission rules.
Tags: European Union, Fuel oil, Industrial Pumps, Power Generation, Transportation and Logistics