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The 70th meeting of the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 70) recently approved guidelines for taking bunker fuel samples from vessels in order to verify compliance with restrictions on sulphur content. The guidelines now look set to be adopted, the International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) reports.

Comments were heard and papers presented at MEPC 70 to show that bunker samples are routinely collected - and in a safe manner; however, some reservations remained regarding the safety of personnel when collecting samples from fuel systems.

Sampling points

At the meeting, Norway's delegation proposed to phase in a requirement for vessels to have designated fuel sampling points.

Norway's presentation paper said: "We believe this would strengthen and contribute to a harmonized enforcement of the sulphur requirements, facilitate the work of the personnel that would draw the fuel oil samples, ensure that representative fuel oil samples are taken in a cost-effective and safe manner, and will reduce the likelihood of any disputes following a test that shows the use of non-compliant fuel oil."

Several member states supported the proposal, which, it is argued, would facilitate compliance checks when the January 2020 global sulphur cap is implemented.

However, several shipping firms were against the idea of establishing a fuel sample procedure to check for sulphur compliance, arguing that fuel sampling should only be carried out if there is a valid reason for suspecting non-compliance.

It was also stressed that shipowners should not be charged for any costs arising from the sampling or testing of fuels for compliance instigated by port State control officers.

Addressing MEPC 70, IBIA's IMO representative, Unni Einemo, said Norway's proposal made good sense. "Apart from addressing the safety concerns raised on several occasions, it would standardise the sampling point and bring uniformity. This is really important as we have heard examples of ships being deemed in non-compliance with ECA [Emission Control Area] sulphur limit on the basis of the first sample taken, while a second sample, deemed to be more representative of the fuel in use, tested compliant.

"There would be a clear benefit for both the ship crew and ports State control officers to have a designated sampling point, providing of course the location is appropriately chosen to give confidence that the sample will be representative of the fuel in use," Einemo remarked.

What happens next?

The proposal is due to be sent to the Sub-Committee on Pollution Prevention and Response (PPR) for development, and to the Sub-Committee on Ship Systems and Equipment (SSE) to consider the safety aspects.

PPR - formerly the Sub-Committee on Bulk Liquids and Gases (BLG) - has been held once a year since 2014. The next PPR meeting, PPR 4, is due to take in January 2017. IBIA says that it will not instruct PPR until PPR 5 (in 2018) "due to the limited time remaining before PPR 4".

If Norway's proposal is approved, regulation 14 of MARPOL Annex VI would need to be amended.