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The coronavirus has created growing logistical problems for freight as countries try to keep goods moving despite lockdown in many parts of the world.<\/p>\n
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At the start of the year, regulations came into effect \u2013 known as MARPOL Annex VI \u2013 that make it mandatory for ships to use fuel with a sulphur content of 0.5%, down from 3.5% previously, or to install devices, known as scrubbers, that strip out the toxic pollutant.<\/p>\n
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Enforcement of the rules, which have shaken up oil and\u00a0shipping\u00a0markets, is up to port and flag states.<\/p>\n
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Britain\u2019s suspension of the checks is one of first indications of the challenges in enforcing the IMO regulations posed by the spread of the coronavirus.<\/p>\n
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Britain\u2019s Maritime and\u00a0Coastguard\u00a0Agency (MCA), which is responsible for maritime regulation, safety and counter-pollution, said it has enacted measures to keep freight moving.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIn terms of enforcing IMO 2020 and ultimately MARPOL Annex VI requirements, as we have suspended port state control inspections, this also means that the checking of compliant fuel has been suspended,\u201d an MCA spokeswoman said, referring to the regulations, which were enacted by United Nations\u00a0shippingagency the IMO.<\/p>\n
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\u201cHowever, as a responsible regulator, we are continuing to monitor vessels that call at UK ports. If, as a result of reviewing information sent to us, we think it\u2019s appropriate, we will inspect those vessels.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The MCA said it had suspended ship survey and inspection activity, and relaxed rules such as extensions on ship certificates \u2013 all needed to enter ports.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWhile we can\u2019t compromise on safety, there are a number of temporary measures we have and are taking to ensure\u00a0shipping\u00a0doesn\u2019t come to a standstill and seafarers can keep working,\u201d Katy Ware, MCA director of maritime safety and standards, said in a statement this week. (Reporting by Jonathan Saul; editing by Barbara Lewis)<\/p>\n
gCaptain<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The coronavirus has created growing logistical problems for freight as countries try to keep goods moving despite lockdown in many parts of the world. At the start of the year, regulations came into effect \u2013 known as MARPOL Annex VI \u2013 that make it mandatory for ships to use fuel with a sulphur content of …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6978,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[3867,2605,1034,1576,1615,832,3075],"class_list":["post-6977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marine-world","tag-britain","tag-checks","tag-coronavirus","tag-due","tag-fuel","tag-imo","tag-suspends"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.al-sindbad.net\/rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.al-sindbad.net\/rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.al-sindbad.net\/rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.al-sindbad.net\/rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.al-sindbad.net\/rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.al-sindbad.net\/rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6977\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.al-sindbad.net\/rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/6978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.al-sindbad.net\/rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.al-sindbad.net\/rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.al-sindbad.net\/rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}