PHL ships on foreign routes compliant with IMO rules on emissions, Marina reports

PHL ships on foreign routes compliant with IMO rules on emissions, Marina reports
13/03/2020 https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/phl-ships-on-foreign-routes-complia...

The Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) bared that Philippine ships plying foreign routes are compliant with the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) 2020 standard on sulfur emissions.

According to the agency, “all 70 overseas-going ships classed by Bureau Veritas use compliant fuels,” thus, are within the sulfur content cap imposed by the IMO at 0.5 percent.

“Meanwhile, classification societies Nippon Kaiji Kyokai and Lloyd’s Register are already finalizing their figures. The Philippines has 119 overseas ships under its registry,” the Marina said.

Under the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution, all ships are required to limit the fuel content of their fuels to 0.5 percent, a big jump from the 3.5 percent standard. The Philippines ratified this convention in 2018.

For domestic ships, Marina said the implementation of the convention would be
“gradual.”

Marina has partnered with the Department of Energy (DOE), shipping companies, oil suppliers, and other concerned entities in the public and private sectors to be fully compliant to the IMO rule by 2025.

This “gradual” implementation aims to “ease” the impact in costs of the ruling to domestic shipping lines, as well as provide oil suppliers ample time to acquire supplies of compliant fuel.

“The Marina is determined to integrate environmental protection into the practices in the industry to lessen the impact of sulfur emissions to the environment, as well as to human health. Reduced sulfur emissions will improve air quality, especially in coastal communities and, thus, consequently reduce health hazards to populations living in those areas,” the Marina said.
Source: Business Mirror