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Web Alert: Early implementation of low sulphur fuel oil requirements for ships in ALL ports within Yangtze River Delta ECA
News & Insights 5 September 2017
Members are recommended to ensure that their ships due for calling at any port within the Yangtze River Delta ECA must comply with relevant requirements and regulations.
Further to the previous web alert on the Chinese emission control area (ECA) requirements update, the club’s correspondent in China (Huatai Insurance Agency and Consultant Service Ltd) have advised on an early implementation of the 0.50% sulphur cap in ports of the Yangtze River Delta ECA.
The requirement to use fuel with sulphur content not exceeding 0.50% whilst berthed has been enforced in the four designated key ports of Shanghai, Ningbo-Zhoushan, Suzhou and Nantong in this ECA, since 1 April 2016. However, the application of the requirement has now been extended to other ports, and from 1 September 2017, ships berthing at ALL ports in the Zhejiang and Jiangsu Provinces must use fuel with a sulphur content not exceeding 0.50%.
Members are therefore recommended to ensure that their ships due for calling at any port within the Yangtze River Delta ECA must comply with relevant requirements and regulations. For more details, please refer to the attached Huatai circulars no. 1710 and 1711.
For member’s reference, below is an update on the Chinese ECA timeline -
Timeline | ECA(s) | Ports | Fuel required | Period of time applied |
1 Apr 2016 | Yangtze River Delta | Shanghai, Ningbo-Zhoushan, Suzhou & Nantong | Sulphur content of no more than 0.5%
| 1 hour after berthing to 1 hour before departure |
1 Oct 2016 | Pearl River Delta | Shenzhen, Yantian, Shekou, Chiwan, Mawan and Dachan Bay | 1 hour after berthing to 1 hour before departure | |
1 Jan 2017 | Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, Bohai Sea Area | 11 KEY ports: Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Zhuhai, Shanghai, Ningbo-Zhoushan, Suzhou, Nantong, Tianjin, Qinhuangdao, Tangshan, Huanghua | 1 hour after berthing to 1 hour before departure | |
1 Sept 2017 | Yangtze River Delta | ALL ports in Yangtze River Delta ECA | 1 hour after berthing to 1 hour before departure | |
1 Jan 2018 | Pearl River Delta, Bohai Sea Area | ALL ports in 3 ECAs | 1 hour after berthing to 1 hour before departure | |
1 Jan 2019 | Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, Bohai Sea Area | Sea area, inland waters, all ports in ECAs | Before entering in ECAs |