The Chinese authorities have caught two vessels in Chinese waters for using non-compliant fuel, the first reported cases of breaches of IMO 2020. The first ship was under a port state control inspection in Qingdao port when the Chinese Maritime Safety Administration (MSA) verified the use of fuel oil with a sulphur content of 0.6777%. The second ship was berthed in Xiamen port when the MSA found it to be using non-compliant fuel. The ship had been at berth for nearly six days after changing over to compliant fuel. It’s likely that previous high-sulphur fuel residue remained in the engine fuel system resulting in emissions over the China ECA limit. The ship was ordered to take effective measures to purify the fuel system.
