Chief of Maritime Policy at Hong Kong's Multi-lateral Policy Division, Marine Department, Y.M. Cheng, told Sustainable Shipping and Bunkerworld on Monday that Hong Kong would "enforce Annex VI, no more, no less."
The International Maritime Organization's (IMO) MARPOL Annex VI deals with ways of reducing emissions from ships. It is in the process of being revised and toughened.
The Hong Kong Marine Department said: "To give effect to Annex VI of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships 1973, as modified by the Protocols of 1978 and 1997 (MARPOL Annex VI) in Hong Kong, a new piece of legislation, namely the Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Air Pollution) Regulation, was gazetted on 6 July 2007 and will enter into force on 1 June 2008."
Cheng said the Hong Kong legislative council had endorsed the new legislation in November and that a formal application to enforce it had to be submitted to China.
“China already ratified MARPOL Annex VI in 2006, and now its official status has been extended to Hong Kong as well,” explained Cheng.
As it stands, MARPOL Annex VI requires bunker fuel to have a sulphur content of no more than 4.5% sulphur, falling to 1.5% sulphur in Emission Control Areas (ECAs).
Several Hong Kong bunker players told Sustainable Shipping and Bunkerworld that there would be little change when enforcement began as the intermediate fuel oil (IFO) supplied in the Hong Kong bunker market was already below 4.5%.
Major carriers - Maersk Line, Hapag-Lloyd AG, CP Ships and NYK LIne (Nippon Yusen Kaisha) - bunkering in Hong Kong are reported to be already asking for bunker fuels with sulphur content below 3.0%.
Hong Kong's bunker suppliers have told Bunkerworld that they supply products with sulphur content between 2.9-3.5%.
But the Annex is undergoing a major revision. The IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) last month agreed a global sulphur cap at 3.50% in 2012 for bunker fuel, with a long-term global target of 0.50% in 2020.
Those proposal have been welcomed by the Hong Kong Shipowners Association (HKSOA), which sees them as a step towards the global use of distillate bunker fuel.
The International Maritime Organization's (IMO) MARPOL Annex VI deals with ways of reducing emissions from ships. It is in the process of being revised and toughened.
The Hong Kong Marine Department said: "To give effect to Annex VI of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships 1973, as modified by the Protocols of 1978 and 1997 (MARPOL Annex VI) in Hong Kong, a new piece of legislation, namely the Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Air Pollution) Regulation, was gazetted on 6 July 2007 and will enter into force on 1 June 2008."
Cheng said the Hong Kong legislative council had endorsed the new legislation in November and that a formal application to enforce it had to be submitted to China.
“China already ratified MARPOL Annex VI in 2006, and now its official status has been extended to Hong Kong as well,” explained Cheng.
As it stands, MARPOL Annex VI requires bunker fuel to have a sulphur content of no more than 4.5% sulphur, falling to 1.5% sulphur in Emission Control Areas (ECAs).
Several Hong Kong bunker players told Sustainable Shipping and Bunkerworld that there would be little change when enforcement began as the intermediate fuel oil (IFO) supplied in the Hong Kong bunker market was already below 4.5%.
Major carriers - Maersk Line, Hapag-Lloyd AG, CP Ships and NYK LIne (Nippon Yusen Kaisha) - bunkering in Hong Kong are reported to be already asking for bunker fuels with sulphur content below 3.0%.
Hong Kong's bunker suppliers have told Bunkerworld that they supply products with sulphur content between 2.9-3.5%.
But the Annex is undergoing a major revision. The IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) last month agreed a global sulphur cap at 3.50% in 2012 for bunker fuel, with a long-term global target of 0.50% in 2020.
Those proposal have been welcomed by the Hong Kong Shipowners Association (HKSOA), which sees them as a step towards the global use of distillate bunker fuel.