The California Air Resources Board (CARB) staff will begin additional analysis of fuel samples taken during the inspection of ocean-going ships to verify compliance with the local environmental regulations, starting in May 2021, reports safety4sea.
Scrubber compliance not allowed!
According to the Standard Club, the OGV Fuel Regulation requires the use of marine distillate grade fuel (marine gas oil or marine diesel oil) with a maximum sulfur level of 0.1% while operating within 24 nautical miles of the California coast. Compliance via scrubbers is not allowed.
While ships’ fuel may indeed meet the sulphur limits of both International and California regulations, the fuel may still fail to comply with the standards for distillate grade fuel, as required by California law.
Reduction in emitted particulates
According to studies, the use of distillate fuel vs lower sulphur residual grade fuel considerably reduces the formation of directly emitted particulate from diesel engines.
As a result, CARB staff will perform additional analysis of the collected fuel samples in accordance with ISO 8217 which will be used to determine whether the fuel meets the specifications of distillate grade fuel.
Operators are reminded of the importance of complying with International, national and California fuel regulations to avoid significant fines from authorities.
Compliance regulations
To remain compliant, CARB recommends vessel owners and operators ensure that crews are properly trained, as well as:
- Be sure that vessel operators/charterers have bunkered compliant distillate-grade fuel.
- Have established procedures to eliminate all areas of potential contamination with residual-grade fuels before the fuel oil supply pumps.
- Have processes in place that will allow for the complete flushing of all residual-grade fuel oils from engines and fuel oil supply systems once fuel changeover has been completed.
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Source: Safety4sea
