Jim Ryden News

The California Air Resources Board has fined four shipping companies a combined $146,719 for failing to switch from dirty diesel “bunker” fuel to cleaner, low-sulfur marine distillate fuel upon entering Regulated California Waters – within 24 nautical miles of the California coast. “State anti-pollution laws require shippers to do their part to protect air quality,” said ARB Enforcement Chief Jim Ryden. “Shippers who comply are helping to protect the health of those who live, work, and go to schools near ports and shipping lanes. Many Californians don’t realize that diesel soot and other pollutants can also travel far inland to impact communities nowhere near the sea.

The California Air Resources Board has fined three international shipping companies a combined $440,250 for failure to switch from dirty bunker fuel to cleaner, low-sulfur marine distillate fuel upon entering Regulated California Waters, as required by state law. “Ships en route to California ports emit thousands of tons of diesel exhaust each year,” said ARB Enforcement Chief Jim Ryden. An ARB investigation showed that on 17 visits to California ports between November 6, 2009 and July 18, 2011, the vessel Hoegh Inchon operated its main engines within Regulated California Waters on bunker fuel, a dirtier fuel oil that contributes to onshore pollution levels of diesel particulate matter, sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides. The parent company, Hoegh Autoliners Shipping AS Co.