LONDON: Amendments to the bunker delivery note entered into force on January 1, 2019, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) said.
The amendments relate to the supply of marine fuel oil to ships which have fitted alternative mechanisms to address sulphur emission requirements.
The amendment enters into force as the shipping industry counts down to January 1, 2020, when the limit for sulphur in fuel oil will be reduced to 0.50% m/m outside emission control areas (ECAs), from 3.5% currently.
In ECAs, the limit will remain at 0.10% m/m. It applies to the four areas — the Baltic Sea area, the North Sea area, the North American area, and the
US Caribbean Sea area.
The amendments to Appendix V of MARPOL Annex VI are intended to address situations where the fuel oil supplied does not meet low sulphur requirements, but has been supplied to a ship which is using an alternative compliance method permitted under regulation 4 of MARPOL Annex VI to reduce the sulphur oxide emissions of the ship in order to comply with MARPOL requirements. An equivalent means may be abatement technology such as a scrubber, if accepted by the flag state of a ship as an alternative means to meet the sulphur limit requirement.
