ICS encourages strict sulphur Rules implementation

The shipping industry is fully committed to total compliance with the 0.1% sulphur in fuel requirements in Emission Control Areas (ECA) from January 2015, and there is no reason to suggest
that there will not be full compliance, says the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS). But there is “concern amongst those owners who know that they themselves will comply but who may worry about their competitors,” ICS Director of Policy & External Relations Simon Bennett said in his speech at the Mediterranean Bunker Fuel Conference in Barcelona today.

“The shipping industry will be investing billions of dollars in order to ensure compliance with this major regulatory change. It therefore seems only fair that governments should implement the rules in a uniform manner as we enter a brave new world in which fuel costs, for some ships, will increase overnight by around 50%,” said Bennett. Bennett suggested that, unlike some of the national authorities in Europe, the United States had made its approach to enforcement relatively clear.

“The real crime in the U.S. is to be caught providing false information to the Federal authorities,” said Bennett. “This is a criminal offence, attracting the possibility of multi-million dollar fines. If a ship has been found to supply false information, the US Department of Justice can be expected to throw the book at the operator. The DOJ is always very motivated by the chance to secure relatively easy prosecutions and shipping companies are easy pickings.”