INDONESIA WILL COMPLY WITH IMO 2020 RULES AFTER ALL.
INDONESIA WILL COMPLY WITH IMO 2020 RULES AFTER ALL.
IN A SEMMLY U-TURN OF ITS EARLIER STANCE, INDONESIA’A TRANSPORT MINISTRY SAYS ALL SHIPS WILL NEED TO MEET THE IMO’S SULPHUR CAP.
by Max Tingyao Lin
Sudiono, the ministry’s director of shipping maritime affairs, reportedly said the rule would apply to “all Indonesia-flagged vessel, both for domestic and foreign shipping”. State-run energy firm Pertamina will supply IMO-compliant fuels from Jakarta and Balikpapan and the ministry will ensure adequate fuel supply.
According to Intertanko, Indonesia has confirmed to the industry group that it will implement the new sulphur cap as regulated by the IMO. The ministry has not responded to an email seeking comment in late July, the ministry had said the IMO rule would not be enforced on domestically registered vessels in Indonesian trade due to forecast high costs and low availability of compliant fuels, according to media reports.
Based on the earlier proposal, the exemption would not apply to Indonesia-flagged ships in international trade and foreign- flagged vessels in Indonesian trade. The IMO’s International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (Marpol) has required in its Annex VI that all vessels should switch to 0.5%-sulphur fuel from 3.5%-sulphur grades from 2020 unless they have scrubbers onboard.
As Indonesia is a signatory to the Marpol Annex VI, the earlier move prompted some industry backlashes. The Trident Alliance, a coalition of shipowners and operators, warned that not fully implementing the IMO 2020 rules would bear “several legal implications”.
“A state that is party to Marpol Annex VI can be held liable in accordance with international law (i.e. UNCLOS, Vienna Convention on the law of treaties and the ILC Articles on State Responsibility) if it does not enforce the 0.5% sulphur limit within its waters,” the alliance said in a web statement.
This can lead to the other participating states to Annex VI moving to expel the violating state from Annex VI, or to require the violating state to stop its action or omission and adhere to its commitment. ”The group said that shipowners and operators should recognize that compliance is not a matter between them and authorities. “The requirement for full compliance with all applicable regulation is frequently a condition commercial contracts, bank covenants and insurance policies, to name just a few instances in which compliance is fundamental requirement of the industry,” Trident Alliance said. (*)
RI confirms it will implement IMO’s 0.50% Sulphur Cap Regulation in 1 January 2020.
INDONESIA has confirmed to INTERTANKO that, contrary to recent media reports, it will indeed fulfill its MARPOL Annex VI obligations to enforce the 0.50% sulphur cap regulations from 1 January 2020 – a decision that was shared with INTERTANKO by the Indonesian Directorate General of Sea Transportation (DGST) in a bilateral meeting on 9 August 2019 in Jakarta.
DGST pointed out that Indonesia’s legal position was published via Article 36 of Republic of Indonesia’s Minister for Transportation Regulation No. 29 of 2014, on Prevention of Maritime Pollution. Article 36 stated that sulphur content in fuel must meet requirements with a maximum value of 0.5% m/m from 1 January 2020.
Responding to INTERTANKO’s request for clarification on a DGST circular dated 30 October 2018 which suggested that Indonesia would delay the sulphur cap implementation in its territorial waters, DGST duly confirmed that they will issue a new circular detailing their plans to implement the sulphur cap regulation from 1 January 2020, and so superseding the previous circular.
Availability of fuel
Marine Fuel Oil that is 0.50% sulphur-compliant, with a viscosity of 160cst, is available at the Ports of Balikpapan and Tanjung Priok, while 0.50% sulphur- compliant diesel fuel is available at all Indonesian ports. DGST highlighted that Indonesia’s regulation requires the diesel fuel to comply with their “B20” requirements i.e. 20% to comprise of bio-diesel (from palm oil) and 80% from petroleum diesel. Indonesia has yet to decide on whether they will ban wash water from exhaust gas cleaning systems (EGCS or ‘scrubbers’). DGST confirmed that some 15 Indonesian ports will have reception facilities able to accept wastes from scrubbers. (*)
- By admin
- 07 Oct 2019
- 1757
- INSA
