Low sulphur fuel causing power loss

The US Coast Guard and international shipping lines are becoming seriously alarmed at the number of ships suffering loss of power after switching to low sulphur fuel.

This is particularly the case in California where the state ordered all ships (with a few special exceptions) from July to use a maximum of 1.5% marine gas oil (or 0.5% marine diesel oil) within 24 nautical miles off the coast. From January 2012 the limit for both types of fuel goes down to 0.1%.

According to the Coast Guard, six ships suffered complete loss of power in July, out of 720 arrivals, compared with 11 out of 8,600 arrivals in the nine months before that. Even more worrying, San Francisco Bar Pilots say they have seen an incident every one to three days, some involving engine starts while at berth, due to insufficient air pressure or lack of fuel suction, leading to delays of a couple of hours.

“Two vessels had to be towed after losing propulsion; one was approaching the Bay Bridge, the other along the San Francisco waterfront,” said a report at a meeting on the issue. The Coast Guard says it is “concerned with increases in risk for collision or grounding of ships transiting along the California coast or to/from one of the state’s ports.”