The following article published by Manifold Times on 27 July was sourced from China’s domestic market through a local correspondent. An online translation service was used in the production of the current editorial piece:

Law enforcement officers of the Dongjiakou Maritime Safety Administration on Wednesday (13 July) cracked down on Aframax tanker “Ka xx” and found sulphur content of its bunker fuel to exceed the permitted amount of 0.5%.

The officers first found the vessel emitting black smoke during an inspection and told the crew to resolve the issue.

However when the situation did not improve, the officers proceeded to collect samples of its fuel and sent them to a third-party testing agency. The officers found that the sulphur content exceeded the standard while suspecting illegal fuel was used. No further details were provided by the local authority on the amount of sulphur content found.

The ship was then detained in accordance with local laws for further actions.

This is the second illegal use of non-compliant fuel oil investigated and handled by Dongjiakou Maritime Safety Administration this year.

Previously, law enforcement officers of Dongjiakou Maritime Safety Administration found the sulphur content from oil samples collected from “Tai xx” at berth D23 in Dongjiakou was 1.21%.

This exceeded the control standard of 0.5% of sulphur content permitted according to the “2020 Implementation Plan for Global Marine Fuel Sulphur Restriction Order”.

After investigating the two cases, the authority found that both ships were Aframax oil tankers.

Following this, the Dongjiakou Maritime Safety Administration issued a fuel compliance warning, reminding Aframax ship operators or managers to only utilise compliant bunker fuel.

Source: https://www.manifoldtimes.com/news/china-two-aframax-tankers-found-breaching-bunker-fuel-0-5-sulphur-limit/