Russian Chamber of Shipping calls on changing Technical Regulation of Customs Union relating to bunker fuel
Russian Chamber of Shipping thinks it is necessary to change Technical Regulation of the Customs Union according to which commercial distribution fuel with sulphur content of more than 0.50% will be prohibited in the Customs Union from 1 January 2020, RCS President Aleksey Klyavin said at the 3rd “LNG Fleet and LNG Bunkering in Russia” conference held by PortNews Media Group (22 October 2019, Moscow).
According to him, with the current version of the Regulation even owners of river ships will not be able to acquire fuel other than low-sulphur one which is much more expensive and demanding for ships’ fuel systems.
“In our opinion, it is necessary to work with the Technical Regulation. I hope, it is acknowledged by the executive authorities on the federal level. At least, the recent meeting of RF Government’s Marine Board confirmed that these requirements … should undergo principle changes not to exceed MARPOL requirements”, said Aleksey Klyavin.
RCS President also emphasized that the International Chamber of Shipping forecasted liquefied natural gas to be the most important and, perhaps, the most popular fuel for the international shipping in the coming 15-25 years. However, the long-term prospects are not clear so far.
According to Aleksey Klyavin, the most important issue to solve for using LNG as marine fuel is the training of crews: seafarers are to master a number of new skills to work with this type of fuel. Besides, it is crucial to create bunkering infrastructure in certain regions. Otherwise, it will be hard for ship owners to take decisions on investments in construction of LNG-powered ships or conversion of the existing vessels.
The conference was organized by Russia’s leading media group PortNews with the assistance of RF Ministry of Industry and Trade and Russian Chamber of Shipping. PAO Gazprom was the General Partner of the conference.
