A rumoured ban on open-loop scrubbers in Chinese waters has no basis in fact claims Bimco’s regional manager for Asia, Wayne Zhuang, on good authority.
Dong Leyi, state official from the China Maritime Safety Administration told Mr Zhuang:
“I don’t know where the rumour came from, but I can tell you that China is not going to ban open-loop scrubbers, as long as they are in compliance with the prevailing regulation.”
Dr Xie Xie, director of the Waterborne Transportation Research Institute reaffirmed Mr Dong’s statement.
In an ironic twist it appears that one source of the rumour regarding a ban may have emerged from a recent Hong Kong Shipowners Luncheon where the guest speaker was none other than Dr Xie Xie.
To be fair to Dr Xie Xie it seems that his take on the subject was at the very least ambiguous. Splash247 reported that when questioned on the topic at the end of his HKSOA address on China’s Response to Sulphur Cap 2020, Initially Xie ducked the question, but when pressed his response was: “I don’t know if China’s Maritime safety Administration will allow it.”
In his update on the status of open-loop scrubbers in China, Mr Zhuang added:
“Open loop scrubbers are currently banned in Belgium and Germany has a partial ban along sections of the Rhine. Open loop scrubbers, the most common used system, discharge emissions residue into the sea, as opposed to closed loop scrubbers which collect the residue on board the ship for later discharge in port.”
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Source: Hong Kong Maritime Hub
