IMO Committee Agrees to Amendments for Draft Bunker Delivery Note

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Friday February 26, 2016

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) says that the Sub-Committee on Pollution Prevention and Response (PPR) has agreed to draft amendments of the MARPOL Annex VI bunker delivery note (BDN), which relates to the supply of fuel to vessels fitted with alternative mechanisms to address sulfur emissions requirements, such as scrubbers.

In order to enable higher sulfur fuels than those compliant with the SOx limits detailed in regulation 14 of MARPOL Annex VI to be delivered to a ship that uses scrubbers or other equivalent measures of compliance, the PPR is said to have agreed that the revised bunker delivery note include a new entry for "purchaser's specified limit value" of the sulfur contents.

SOx limits are currently 3.5 percent globally, and 0.10 percent within Emission Control Areas (ECAs).

Further, PPR 3 agreed to include a reference to MARPOL Annex VI regulation 3 on "Exceptions and Exemptions" within the section.

The PPR is also said to have agreed to draft guidelines relating to onboard sampling to verify the sulfur content of fuel oil.

The changes will be submitted to the Marine Environment Protection Committee 70 (MEPC 70) in October 2016 for review and approval, says the IMO.

The amendments are said to be expected to come into force in October 2018.

Earlier this month, Ship & Bunker reported that the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) is working to test-bed an electronic bunker delivery note (E-BDN) mobile application, which will enable the transfer of bunkering information in near real-time.

Ship & Bunker News Team
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