Americas News
Failure to Switch to Low Sulfur Bunkers Sees 12 Companies Fined Over $477,000
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) says it has fined 12 companies a total of $476,750 for failing to switch to low-sulfur fuel when entering waters regulated by the U.S. state.
Individually, the fines ranged from $20,000 to $78,250.
"Our regulations mandating use of cleaner fuel by ocean-going vessels have greatly helped to improve air quality not only in coastal communities, but also in inland areas," said CARB Enforcement Chief Jim Ryden.
"Studies have shown that coastal air pollution travels far inland, so when ships off our shores follow the rules, millions of people benefit."
The agency issued fines of $78,250 to Univan Maritime Ltd. of Hong Kong, $68,000 to Firon Shipping Inc. of Cyprus, $55,500 to W. Bockstiegel GmbH & Co. Reederei KG of Germany, $53,000 to MK Shipmanagement Co. Ltd. of Tokyo, $34,500 to Cosco Maritime Ltd. of the United Kingdom, $30,350 to Triton Schiffahrts GmbH, $30,250 to Dumun Marine S.S. of Panama, $27,750 to Peter Doehle Schiffahrts of Germany, $27,750 to Byzantine Maritime Corp. of Greece, $27,750 to Crowley Technical Management Inc. of the U.S., $23,750 to BigLift Shipping B.V. of the Netherlands, and $20,000 to Ya-Sa Tanker and Transportation of Turkey.
CARB said all the companies took quick action to comply with the law after being notified of the violations.
The North American Emissions Control Area (ECA) introduced on August 1, 2012 effectively requires all ships operating within 200 nautical miles of the U.S. and Canada coastline to use a marine fuel with a sulfur content not exceeding 1.00% by weight.
However on January 1, 2014 the state of California implemented a stricter limit of 0.10% on the sulfur content of marine fuel for ships operating within 24 nautical miles of the California coast.
The North American ECA adopts the 0.10% limit as a whole on January 1, 2015.
