Asia/Pacific News
South Korea Orders Registration of All Bunker Tankers
A new order from South Korea's Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries means by mid-2017 all bunker tankers, and petroleum, oil, and lubricants (POL) tankers dedicated providing marine fuel at the country's ports will have be registered, IHS Maritime reports.
Unregistered tankers will be barred from performing bunkering activities.
The new requirement, which was made official with a December 31 amendment of the Harbor Transport Business Act, is said to be intended to re-establish market fairness and order, as well as to tackle spills and price dumping.
The Korea Coast Guard and other relevant agencies are set to begin enforcing the new requirement following an 18 month grace period.
"This amendment to the law is an example of how regulations improved after the ministry's discovery of bottleneck problems, by making provisions for sufficient safety measures in view of port-specific conditions," Jung Do-hyun, port operations manager for the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, was quoted as saying.
Earlier this week, the South Korean government announced plans to develop a $1.2 billion investment fund intended to provide support to the country's shipping industry.
