Danish EPA "Comes Down Hard" on Bunker Sulfur Reg Violators

The Danish EPA says it has "come down hard" on sulfur polluters at sea.

The Danish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says it has "come down hard" on sulfur polluters at sea, issuing the first such fines to two shipping companies found to have failed to comply with sulfur regulations on bunkers.

One fine of DKK 375,000 ($56,335) is said to have been issued by police in northern Denmark to a foreign shipping company for sailing with fuel containing too much sulfur, while a second fine of DKK 30,000 ($4,507) was issued to another shipping company.

"Our recommendation to the police regarding the size of the fines focussed on ensuring that the fines were proportional with the nature of the violation, that they were commensurate with similar penalties in the environment field, and that they were comparable with fines issued in other countries for the same type of violation," said Sara Røpke, Head of Division at the Danish EPA.

"The size of fines isn't cast in stone. In our opinion the fines should be higher for more serious or repeated violations."

The Danish EPA notes that, while Denmark regularly monitors the sulfur content of ship fuel by taking oil samples from ships in Danish ports and monitors air quality using a 'sniffer' installed underneath the Great Belt Bridge, the DKK 375,000 fine resulted from an anonymous tip-off received by the Danish EPA.

The Danish EPA says it has reported 17 cases to the police since the stricter sulfur limits on bunkers were imposed in the Baltic and North Seas on January 1, 2015.

"By far the majority of shipping companies comply with the regulations for Danish waters, and therefore it's very important we catch those that don't," said Røpke.

"They must not be able to pollute the air with impunity, and therefore we're extremely pleased that our police reports are now leading to fines."

In order to strengthen supervision of the sulfur regulations, the Danish EPA says it will initiate mobile monitoring of ships' sulfur emissions in Danish waters last six months of 2017 - a task that is currently out to European Union (EU) tender.

The Danish EPA notes it has also just launched a project to enhance control of the sulfur content in the fuel delivered to ships in Denmark.

Earlier this month, the Danish Maritime Authority (DMA) announced that it was one of 29 countries of the Paris MoU and the Tokyo Mou to have signed a new Ministerial Declaration on port state control (PSC) covering enforcement of sulfur regulations and the Polar Code.