- Indonesia’s plans to ignore the sulphur cap for its national-flag vessels on domestic routes, though ratified with Annex VI, the biggest difficulty regulators will face.
- The sulphur cap applies to ships registered with states that have ratified Marpol’s Annex VI wherever they sail.
- There is no provision to check how a Member State complies with IMO conventions, including Marpol in the IMO Convention, but auditors can.
- Ships registered in the countries that have not ratified Annex VI can operate between them without using compliant fuel or fit scrubbers.
Indonesia plans to ignore the sulphur cap for its national-flag vessels on domestic routes. This puts a spotlight on the biggest difficulty regulators will face. Paul Gunton expresses his doubts regarding Marpol’s loopholes in an article published in ShipInsight.
Here’s an excerpt from it.
Violation of shipping convention
The sulphur cap applies to ships registered with states that have ratified Marpol’s Annex VI wherever they sail, not just when they are on international voyages, as with SOLAS and other conventions.
So if Indonesia which has ratified Annex VI goes ahead with its threat, it will be violating one of the world’s most significant shipping conventions.
Reason for few not ratifying Annex VI
There are a number of nations that are important to world trade and have not ratified that annex. One of them is New Zealand and refers to concerns about a lack of compliant fuel if it were now to ratify it.
Indonesia’s Directorate General of Sea Transportation and Maritime New Zealand for a better understanding of both countries’ plans.
Flag state acting against regulation
What happens if a flag state itself acts against a regulation it has adopted, as Indonesia appears to be considering?
IMO’s secretariat was asked for guidance as to how the situation is to be handled. Could such a state’s IMO membership be suspended? No.
“There is no provision for this in the IMO Convention,” the secretariat’s spokeswoman said.
However, there is the Member State audit scheme, which provides “an opportunity for auditors to check how a Member State complies with its obligations under a number of IMO conventions, including Marpol.”
This can lead to a “corrective action plan,” to advise a country how to improve its compliance.
Audit not due for Indonesia until 2022?
Indonesia went through a voluntary audit in 2018 and is not due for another until 2022. So there is no likelihood of corrective action to its latest reported plan from that process.
In any case, as of today, Indonesia has not informed IMO of its intentions so there is nothing formal to respond to.
Is any action possible?
MEPC 75
If there is no action that IMO can take, could Indonesia be questioned at the next meeting of its Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 75)? It is possible only if that would be initiated by other delegations.
MEPC 75 will meet between 30 March and 3 April 2020 and its draft agenda includes an item on air pollution prevention, so that would be one avenue for member states to voice their opinions.
PPR 7
Or they the next meeting of MEPC’s Sub-Committee on Pollution Prevention and Response (PPR 7) in February could be used to make some critical remarks.
A31
There is also a possibility that concerns might be raised during the IMO Assembly meeting (A31) later this year (25 November – 4 December), which always includes a report from MEPC which “allows for anything related to be discussed,” the secretariat’s spokeswoman said.
Will other delegates oppose?
If Indonesia confirms that it will ignore the sulphur cap, nothing will be said at any of these meetings because other states might also do the same.
They may not announce it and though no evidence to support the view, but at least in the early weeks and months, when compliant fuel might be in short supply, blind eye will be turned in ports in some of the more remote parts of the shipping world.
Annex VI compliance optional?
This is alarming. It means that compliance with Annex VI is optional. It is a small step from there to say that complying with any IMO convention is optional with no effective sanctions available in response.
In other parts of the world, there will be no need to comply because, like New Zealand many countries have not ratified Annex VI.
The full list of states that have not ratified includes Argentina, Bahrain, Ecuador, Egypt, Hungary, Israel, Mexico, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Venezuela.
Competitive service using HSFO and not breaking rules?
Ships registered in these countries and operating between them need not use compliant fuel or fit scrubbers.
So an enterprising New Zealand shipowner might offer a liner service between PICT in Lahore or LCIT near Bangkok and SCCT in Port Said with cargo feedered to and from Asia and Europe at each end.
- Its ships could offer a competitive service using high-sulphur fuel without breaking any rules.
- Its ships would have to avoid visiting any ports or offshore terminals of states where Annex VI has been ratified.
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Source: ShipInsight
