Lintec advises on SECA trigger limit

Leading fuel testing agency Lintec Testing Services has urged shipowners to act, but not panic, should their fuel tests marginally exceed the 1.5% sulphur limit imposed within the MARPOL Annex VI Sulphur Emissions Control Area (SECA) in the Baltic Sea.

Geoff Jones, Lintec?s managing director, says: “Since the SECA?s enforcement on 19 May, Lintec has found numerous occasions where a bunker fuel sample exceeds the 1.5% sulphur limit, but falls within the accepted 95% confidence limit for a single test. Lintec has developed straightforward guidelines to clarify matters for shipowners and charterers, so they can take the necessary steps when dealing with this grey area.”

Lintec recommendations:

In cases when the commercial sulphur result is confirmed to exceed the 1.5% limit, Lintec recommends that the fuel supplier is notified of the result.

The shipowner or charterer should request the supplier confirms, in writing, that the fuel supplied to the vessel meets the requirements of the MARPOL Annex VI SECA limit.

Should the supplier confirm that the fuel does meet this regulation, the reply must be stored with the MARPOL sample and all evidence recorded in the Annex VI log book.

Lintec recommends that the vessel also immediately notifies the Flag State administration. This is particularly important in cases where the supplier fails to act on the request from the vessel or confirms that the fuel was in fact in excess of the SECA limit

Should the supplier confirm the fuel to be non compliant, the Port State Authority should also be advised.

Geoff Jones says: “A bunker fuel that exceeds 1.5% sulphur is not a technical problem as it would not affect the commercial operation of the vessel. It is a legislative problem, and the vessel must act to protect itself in the eyes of the law.

“If the Port State Authority boards the vessel and removes the MARPOL Annex VI sample for testing and finds the fuel to be in excess of 1.5% sulphur, the vessel should be able to provide written evidence from the supplier, clearly stating that the fuel was supplied meeting the SECA regulations. By following the Lintec recommendations the vessel can prove it had done everything required to ensure that SECA compliant fuel was being used.”