MARPOL Compliance Needs Action Now Says Lintec

New procedures to deal with sulphur emissions from ships will need to be developed by owners and suppliers to ensure compliance with MARPOL Annex VI, warns Lintec, the international marine fuels analysis specialist. Although EU proposals for sulphur control will not enter into force before 2005, owners and suppliers need to take action sooner. In the latest issue of its Testing Times newsletter, Lintec says that if Annex VI is ratified as expected, shipowners will need to consider changes to fuel purchasing practice, vessel design, engine room and bunkering procedure. Compliance with new licensing requirements for suppliers will also need to be met. Suppliers of fuel oil will have to be registered with the designated body within their state. In addition, they will have to provide and retain copies of bunker receipts and samples. Elsewhere in Testing Times, Lintec details a recent case in which it was involved in Singapore: It was the intention for a company to de-bunker a vessel, based on the high vanadium result of the fuel. Lintec advised that although the vanadium was off spec, at that level, provided the sodium levels were sufficiently low, the vessel could still use the fuel with minimal damage.