CONTENTS

1. Citation

2. Interpretation

3. Application

4. Maximum sulphur content of marine fuels

5. Sulphur content of marine fuels used by ships at berth

6. Control measures

7. Register of suppliers of marine fuels

8. Supply of marine diesel and gas oils

9. Emission abatement methods

10. Trials of new emission abatement methods

11. Appointment of inspectors

12. Powers of inspectors

13. Sampling and analysis

14. Offence - body corporate

15. Penalties

16. Summary prosecutions

17. Amendment of Regulations of 2010

SCHEDULE 1

EQUIVALENT EMISSION VALUES FOR EMISSION ABATEMENT METHODS

SCHEDULE 2

CRITERIA FOR THE USE OF EMISSION ABATEMENT METHODS

S.I. No. 361 of 2015

EUROPEAN UNION (SULPHUR CONTENT OF MARINE FUELS) REGULATIONS 2015

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

"Iris Oifigiúil" of 25th August, 2015.

I, PASCHAL DONOHOE, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), for the purpose of giving effect to Directive 1999/32/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 April 1999¹ , as amended by Directive 2012/33/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 November 2012² , as regards the sulphur content of marine fuels, hereby make the following regulations:

Citation

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Union (Sulphur Content of Marine Fuels) Regulations 2015.

Interpretation

2. (1) In these Regulations-

"Act of 2010" means Merchant Shipping Act 2010 (No. 14 of 2010);

"Commission Implementing Decision" means Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2015/253 of 16 February 2015³ ;

"Directive" means Directive 1999/32/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 April 19991, as amended by Directive 2012/33/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 November 20122;

"Emission Control Area" has the meaning assigned to it in Regulation 13 of the Regulations of 2010;

"inspector" means an officer appointed under-

(a) Regulation 11(1),

(b) Regulation 5(1) of the European Communities (Port State Control) Regulations 2010 ( S.I. No. 656 of 2010 ), or

(c) section 20 of the Sea Pollution Act 1991 (No. 27 of 1991);

"Irish ship" has the same meaning as it has in the Act of 2010;

"MARPOL Convention" means the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, done at London on 2 November 1973, as amended by the Protocols of 1978 and 1997;

"master", when used in relation to a ship, means the master, skipper or other person for the time being in charge of the ship;

"Minister" means Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport;

"owner", in relation to a ship, has the same meaning as it has in the Act of 2010;

"passenger ship" means a ship that carries more than 12 passengers, where a passenger is every person other than-

(a) the master and the members of the crew or other person employed or engaged in any capacity on board on the business of that ship, and

(b) a child under one year of age;

"regular services" means a series of passenger ship crossings operated so as to serve traffic between the same two or more ports, or a series of voyages from and to the same port without intermediate calls, either :

(a) according to a published timetable, or

(b) with crossings so regular or frequent that they constitute a recognisable schedule;

"Regulations of 2010" means Sea Pollution (Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships) Regulations 2010 ( S.I. No. 313 of 2010 ).

(2) A word or expression which is used in these Regulations and which is also used in the Directive or Commission Implementing Decision has, unless the context otherwise requires, the same meaning in these Regulations as it has in the Directive or the Commission Implementing Decision, as the case may be.

(3) A reference to an International Standard (ISO) is a reference to a standard published by the International Organization for Standardization.

(4) A reference to a European Standard (EN) is a reference to an EN as adopted by the National Standards Authority of Ireland and published as an I.S. EN.

Application

3. (1) These Regulations apply to-

(a) a ship in the State (within the meaning of section 3(2A) (inserted by section 93(4) of the Sea-Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006 (No. 8 of 2006)) of the Sea Pollution Act 1991 ), and

(b) an Irish ship, wherever it may be.

(2) These Regulations do not apply to:

(a) fuels used by warships of, and other vessels on military service with, the Defence Forces or another state;

(b) any use of fuels in a vessel necessary for the specific purpose of securing the safety of a ship or saving life at sea;

(c) any use of fuels in a ship necessitated by damage sustained to it or its equipment, provided that all reasonable measures are taken after the occurrence of the damage to prevent or minimise excess emissions and that measures are taken as soon as possible to repair the damage;

(d) fuels used on board vessels employing emission abatement methods in accordance with Regulations 9 and 10;

(e) inland waterway vessels or recreational craft within the meaning of the European Communities (Control of Emissions of Gaseous and Particulate Pollutants from Non-Road Mobile Machinery) Regulations 2007 ( S.I. No. 147 of 2007 ) (as last amended by the European Communities (Control of Emissions of Gaseous and Particulate Pollutants from Non-Road Mobile Machinery) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 ( S.I. No. 417 of 2013 )), and the European Communities (Recreational Craft) Regulations 1998 ( S.I. No. 40 of 1998 ) (as last amended by the European Communities (Recreational Craft) (Amendment) Regulations 2004 ( S.I. No. 422 of 2004 )), unless such vessels or craft are at sea.

(3) Subparagraph (c) of paragraph (2) does not apply if the owner or master of the ship concerned acted either with intent to cause damage, or recklessly.

Maximum sulphur content of marine fuels

4. (1) Notwithstanding Regulation 13(l)(b) of the Regulations of 2010, the owner or master of a passenger ship operating on regular services to, or from, a port in the State, or, in the case of a passenger ship which is an Irish ship, operating on regular services to, or from, a port in another Member State, shall ensure that the sulphur content of marine fuel used on board that passenger ship does not exceed-

(a) until 31 December 2019, 1.50 per cent by mass, and

(b) after that date, 0.50 per cent by mass.

(2) The owner or master of a passenger ship on regular services to, or from, a port in the State, or, in the case of a passenger ship which is an Irish ship, operating on regular services to, or from, a port in another Member State, while operating in an Emission Control Area, shall ensure that the sulphur content of marine fuel used on board does not exceed 0.10 per cent by mass.

(3) The owner or master of a ship using separate marine fuel in compliance with paragraph (2) and entering or leaving an Emission Control Area, shall ensure that such ship carries a written procedure showing how the marine fuel change-over is to be done, allowing sufficient time for the marine fuel service system to be fully flushed of any marine fuel exceeding the applicable sulphur content specified in paragraph (2) prior to entry into an Emission Control Area.

(4) An owner or master referred to in paragraph (3) shall further ensure that the volume of low sulphur marine fuel in each tank as well as the date, time, and position of the ship when any marine fuel change-over operation is completed prior to the entry into an Emission Control Area or commenced after exit from such an area, shall be recorded in a log-book in such form as decided by the Minister.

(5) The master of a ship to which these Regulations and the Regulations of 2010 apply, shall ensure the correct completion of the ship’s logbook in respect of all operations regarding the use on board of marine fuel, including any fuel-changeover operation.

(6) In accordance with the Regulations of 2010, the master of a ship shall ensure that the bunker delivery note is kept on board such ship in such a place as to be readily available for inspection at all reasonable times and is retained for a period of 3 years after the fuel oil has been delivered on board.

(7) A marine fuel supplier delivering marine fuel to a ship for the purpose of combustion and use on board such ship, to which these Regulations and the Regulations of 2010 apply, shall record details of such fuel in a bunker delivery note, which shall contain at least the information specified in Appendix V of Annex VI to the MARPOL Convention, and provide such note accompanied by a sealed sample as required by Regulation 17 of the Regulations of 2010, certified by the fuel oil supplier that the fuel oil meets the requirements of Regulations 13 and 17 of the Regulations of 2010.

(8) A marine fuel supplier delivering marine fuel to a ship for combustion purposes in accordance with these Regulations and the Regulations of 2010 shall retain a copy of each bunker delivery note for at least 3 years for inspection and verification by an inspector as necessary.

(9) A person who fails to comply with this Regulation commits an offence.

Sulphur content of marine fuels used by ships at berth

5. (1) The owner or master of a ship at berth in a port in the State, or, an Irish ship at berth in a port in another Member State, shall ensure that marine fuels with a sulphur content exceeding 0.10 per cent by mass are not used while the ship is at berth.

(2) The owner or master of a ship engaged in a fuel-changeover operation, the purpose of which is to comply with the requirement of paragraph (1), shall ensure that such operation is completed as soon as possible after the arrival of the ship at berth and as late as possible before departure.

(3) Paragraph (1) does not apply to-

(a) ships due to be at berth for less than two hours, according to published timetables, or

(b) ships that switch off all engines and use shore-side electricity while at berth.

(4) The owner or master of a ship who fails to comply with this Regulation commits an offence.

Control measures

6. (1) (a) If a ship is found by an inspector not to be in compliance with the standards for compliant marine fuel set out in Regulations 4 and 5, the inspector may require the master or owner of the ship to-

(i) present a record of the actions taken to attempt to achieve compliance, and

(ii) provide evidence that it attempted to purchase compliant marine fuel in accordance with its voyage plan and, if it was not made available where planned, that attempts were made to locate alternative sources for such marine fuel and that despite best efforts to obtain compliant marine fuel, no such marine fuel was made available for purchase.

(b) The ship should not be required to deviate from its intended voyage or to delay unduly the voyage in order to achieve compliance.

(2) If a ship provides the information required under paragraph (1)(a), the Minister shall take into account all relevant circumstances and the evidence presented to determine the appropriate action to take, including not taking control measures.

(3) The master of a ship shall notify the Minister and the harbour authority or person having control of the relevant port of destination when compliant marine fuel cannot be purchased for the ship.

(4) The owner or master of a ship who fails to comply with this Regulation commits an offence.

Register of suppliers of marine fuels

7. (1) The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland shall maintain a publicly available register of suppliers of any marine fuel.

(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1), a supplier of any marine fuel shall register with the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland.

(3) For the purposes of ensuring that any marine fuel delivered to any ship, which is subject to these Regulations and the Regulations of 2010, for combustion on board any such ship complies with the relevant criteria with regard to the sulphur content of marine fuel as set out in Regulations 4 and 5 and Regulation 13 of the Regulations of 2010, a supplier of any marine fuel shall provide, within 3 months of the end of the preceding year, an annual report to the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland on the volume, sulphur content and energy content of any marine fuel supplied in that year.

(4) A supplier of marine fuel who fails to comply with paragraph (2) or (3) commits an offence.

Supply of marine diesel and gas oils

8. (1) A person shall not place on the market or supply (other than for export) to a ship-

(a) marine diesel oil if the sulphur content of such exceeds 1.50 percent by mass, or

(b) marine gas oil if the sulphur content of such exceeds 0.10 percent by mass.

(2) A person who fails to comply with this Regulation commits an offence.

Emission abatement methods

9. (1) A ship may operate using an emission abatement method approved under paragraph (2) as an alternative to using any marine fuel that meets the requirements of these Regulations and the Regulations of 2010, subject to the following conditions:

(a) a ship using an emission abatement method shall continuously achieve reductions of sulphur dioxide emissions that are at least equivalent to the reductions that would be achieved by using a marine fuel that meets the requirements of Regulations 4 and 5 and Regulation 13 of the Regulations of 2010 and the equivalent emission values shall be determined in accordance with Schedule 1;

(b) an emission abatement method shall comply with the criteria specified in the instruments referred to in Schedule 2.

(2) Emission abatement methods shall be approved by the Minister in accordance with Article 4d of the Directive.

(3) A master or owner of a ship that uses any emission abatement method which does not comply with this Regulation commits an offence.

Trials of new emission abatement methods

10. The Minister may approve trials of ship emission abatement methods in accordance with Article 4e of the Directive on Irish ships or other ships in the State during which the use of marine fuels meeting the requirements of Regulations 4 and 5 and Regulation 13 of the Regulations of 2010 do not apply provided that all of the following conditions are fulfilled:

(a) the European Commission and any port authorities concerned are notified in writing at least 6 months before trials begin;

(b) permits for trials do not exceed 18 months in duration;

(c) all ships involved install tamper-proof equipment for the continuous monitoring of funnel gas emissions and use it throughout the trial period;

(d) all ships involved achieve emission reductions which are at least equivalent to those which would be achieved through the sulphur limits for fuels specified in these Regulations and the Regulations of 2010;

(e) there are proper waste management systems in place for any waste generated by the emission abatement methods throughout the trial period;

(f) there is an assessment of impacts on the marine environment, particularly ecosystems in enclosed ports, harbours and estuaries throughout the trial period;

(g) full results are provided to the European Commission, and made publicly available, within 6 months of the end of the trials.

Appointment of inspectors

11. (1) The Minister may appoint a person as an inspector for the purposes of these Regulations.

(2) The Minister shall issue to every inspector appointed under paragraph (1) a warrant of his or her appointment and, when exercising a power under these Regulations, the inspector shall, if so requested by a person affected, produce the warrant to that person.

Powers of inspectors

12. (1) An inspector may do all such things as he or she considers necessary for the purpose of carrying out his or her functions under these Regulations.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (1) and any other provision of these Regulations and the Regulations of 2010, an inspector may-

(a) at any time, go on board any ship while the ship is in the State or an Irish ship anywhere and inspect the ship and all machinery, boats, equipment or fittings thereon and test any equipment on board the ship with which, under these Regulations, the ship is required to be fitted;

(b) inspect any document on board the ship and require any person on board to produce to him or her any document in his or her possession or control or to make return to any enquiry;

(c) require any person on board a ship to furnish him or her with his or her name and address;

(d) at any time or place, take a sample or samples of marine fuel for the purposes of these Regulations;

(e) copy any entry in any relevant document or record and require the person by whom the document or record is kept to certify the copy as a true copy of the entry;

(f) copy any entry in any log book of the ship or other record on the ship and require the master of the ship to certify the copy as a true copy of the entry;

(g) at any time, enter any place, whether on land or at sea, and therein inspect-

(i) any container for the storage, or

(ii) any apparatus for the transfer to or from a ship,

of marine fuel.

(3) For the purpose of boarding a ship in order to exercise his or her functions under these Regulations, an inspector may require the master of the ship to take such measures and provide such facilities as may be necessary to enable him or her to go on board.

(4) An inspector may, for the purposes of these Regulations, require the master of a ship to be and remain on board whilst he or she is inspecting the ship and the inspector may require the master to answer any questions or to furnish any information which may appear to the inspector to be necessary or relevant.

(5) Any person who-

(a) refuses or neglects to make any answer, or to give any return, or to produce any document to an inspector, or to make or subscribe to any declaration, or to certify a copy of any entry which the inspector is entitled to require, or

(b) on being requested by an inspector to stop a ship for the purpose of enabling the inspector to board the ship in order to inspect it, fails or neglects to bring the ship to a stop,

(c) wilfully impedes an inspector in the exercise of his or her functions under these Regulations, or

(d) being the master of a ship required to stay on board by an inspector, fails to do so,

commits an offence.

Sampling and analysis

13. (1) The following means of sampling, analysis and inspection of marine fuel shall be used by inspectors for the purposes of these Regulations and the Regulations of 2010:

(a) inspection of ships’ logbooks and bunker delivery notes;

(b) as appropriate, the following means of sampling and analysis-

(i) sampling of the marine fuel for on-board combustion while being delivered to ships, in accordance with guidelines of the International Maritime Organization, and analysis of its sulphur content, or

(ii) sampling and analysis of the sulphur content of marine fuel for on-board combustion contained in tanks, where technically and economically feasible, and in sealed bunker samples on board ships.

(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(b)(ii), the frequency of sampling, the sampling methods and the definition of a sample representative of the fuel to be examined shall be done in accordance with the Commission Implementing Decision.

(3) When conducting an inspection, including the taking of any sample, an inspector shall have due regard to the appropriate procedures and criteria set out in the Commission Implementing Decision, and, in particular, shall ensure the following:

(a) that the sample bottles are sealed by the sulphur inspector with a unique means of identification installed in the presence of the ship’s representative,

(b) that two sample bottles are taken ashore for analysis, and

(c) that one sample bottle is retained by the ship’s representative for a period of not less than 12 months from the date of collection.

(4) The reference method adopted for determining the sulphur content shall be in accordance with ISO 8754 or I.S. EN 14596.

(5) In order to determine whether marine fuel delivered to and used on board ships is compliant with sulphur limits specified in Regulations 4 and 5 and Regulation 13 of the Regulations of 2010, the fuel verification procedure set out in Appendix VI to Annex VI to the MARPOL Convention shall be used.

(6) Following analysis of a marine fuel sample, an inspector may require a marine fuel supplier to take any appropriate remedial action to bring any non-compliant marine fuel that is discovered into compliance.

(7) A person who fails to co-operate with, to comply with a requirement of, or otherwise obstructs, an inspector in the performance of his or her duty under this Regulation commits an offence.

Offence - body corporate

14. Where an offence under these Regulations has been committed by a body corporate and is proved to have been committed with the consent, or, connivance of, or, to be attributable to any neglect on the part of a person being a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, or a person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, that person as well as the body corporate commits an offence and is liable to be proceeded against and punished as if he or she were guilty of the first-mentioned offence.

Penalties

15. A person who commits an offence under-

(a) Regulation 4(9) in respect of a contravention of paragraph (1) or (2) of that Regulation, Regulation 5(4) in respect of a contravention of paragraph (1) of that Regulation, Regulation 7(4), Regulation 8(2) or Regulation 9(3) is liable-

(i) on summary conviction, to a class A fine, or

(ii) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €300,000, or

(b) Regulation 4(9) in respect of a contravention of paragraph (3), (4), (5), (6), (7) or (8) of that Regulation, Regulation 5(4) in respect of a contravention of paragraph (2) of that Regulation, Regulation 6(4), Regulation 12(5) or Regulation 13(7) is liable on summary conviction to a class A fine.

Summary prosecutions

16. An offence under these Regulations may be brought and prosecuted summarily by the Minister.

Amendment of Regulations of 2010

17. The Regulations of 2010 are amended-

(a) in Regulation 13, by substituting for paragraph (5) the following:

"(5) The owner or master of any ship using separate fuel oils in compliance with paragraph (3) and entering or leaving an Emission Control Area as specified in paragraph (2) shall ensure that the ship carries a written procedure showing how the fuel oil change-over is to be done, allowing sufficient time for the fuel oil service system to be fully flushed of all fuel oils exceeding the applicable sulphur content specified in paragraph (3) prior to entry into an Emission Control Area.

(5A) An owner or master referred to in paragraph (5) shall further ensure that the volume of low sulphur fuel oils in each tank as well as the date, time, and position of the ship when any fuel-oil-change-over operation is completed prior to the entry into an Emission Control Area or commenced after exit from such an area, shall be recorded in a log-book in such form as decided by the Minister.",

and

(b) in Regulation 17-

(i) by substituting for paragraph (8) the following:

"(8) The bunker delivery note shall be accompanied by a representative sample of the fuel oil delivered taking into account the relevant guidelines developed by the Organization. The sample is to be sealed and signed by the supplier’s representative and the master or officer in charge of the bunker operation on completion of bunkering operations and retained under the ship’s control until the fuel oil is substantially consumed, but in any case for a period of not less than 12 months from the time of delivery.",

(ii) by substituting for paragraph (10) the following:

"(10) In connection with port State Inspections carried out in the State, an inspector shall inform the Party or non-Party under whose jurisdiction a bunker delivery note was issued of cases of delivery of non-compliant fuel oil, giving all relevant information.", and

(iii) in paragraph (9), by deleting subparagraphs (a), (b) and (c).

SCHEDULE 1

Regulation 9(1)(a)

EQUIVALENT EMISSION VALUES FOR EMISSION ABATEMENT METHODS

Marine fuel sulphur limits referred to in Regulations 4 and 5 and Annex VI to MARPOL (regulations 14.1 and 14.4) and corresponding emission values referred to in Regulation 9:

Note:

- The use of the Ratio Emissions limits is only applicable when using petroleum based Distillate or Residual Fuel Oils.

- In justified cases where the CO₂ concentration is reduced by the exhaust gas cleaning (EGC) unit, the CO₂ concentration may be measured at the EGC unit inlet, provided that the correctness of such a methodology can be clearly demonstrated.

SCHEDULE 2

Regulation 9(1)(b)

CRITERIA FOR THE USE OF EMISSION ABATEMENT METHODS

The emission abatement methods referred to in Regulation 9 shall comply at least with the criteria specified in the following instruments, as applicable:

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

20 August 2015.

PASCHAL DONOHOE,

Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

These Regulations give effect to Directive 2012/33/EU which amends Council Directive1999/32/EC as regards the sulphur content of marine fuels. Directive 2012/33/EU aligns EU legislation with, and, in some areas, goes beyond, the regime concerning the prevention of air pollution from ships set out in the 2008 revised Annex VI to the MARPOL Convention with regard to the sulphur content of marine fuels for use on board ships. The revised Annex VI to the MARPOL Convention was given effect in Irish law by the Sea Pollution (Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships) Regulations 2010 ( S.I. No. 313 of 2010 ).

These Regulations provide, inter alia, for:

- domestic and foreign passenger ships operating on regular services to, or from, a port in the State, or, Irish passenger ships operating on regular services to, or from, a port in another EU Member State, to use marine fuel with a sulphur content not exceeding 1.5% by mass until 31 December 2019 (despite the requirement in Regulation 13(1) of S.I. No. 313 of 2010 for ships to use marine fuel with a sulphur content not exceeding 3.5% by mass until such time), after which the requirement to use marine fuel with a sulphur content not exceeding 0.50% by mass is to apply, as also set out in Regulation 13(1)(c) of S.I. No. 313 of 2010 ; unless such ships are operating within an Emission Control Area (as set out in Regulation 13(2) of S.I. No. 313 of 2010 , as amended), in which case the requirement to use marine fuel with a sulphur content not exceeding 0.10% by mass is to apply, as also set out in Regulation 13(3)(c) of S.I. No. 313 of 2010 ;

- a requirement for domestic and foreign ships at berth in a port in the State, or, Irish ships at berth in a port in another EU Member State, to use marine fuel with a sulphur content no exceeding 0.10% by mass, unless such ships are berthed for less than two hours according to published timetables, or, are using shore-side electricity;

- a prohibition against the placing on the market of different specified types of marine fuel which exceed stated sulphur content limits by mass;

- the introduction of a compulsory system for the sampling and analysis of marine fuel for combustion purposes on board ships;

- the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland to maintain a publicly available register of suppliers of marine fuel;

- criteria for the use of ship emission abatement methods that continuously achieve reductions of sulphur dioxide emissions that are at least equivalent to the reductions that would be achieved by using marine fuels that meet the requirements of these Regulations or Regulation 13 of the Sea Pollution (Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships) Regulations 2010 ( S.I. No. 313 of 2010 );

- criteria for applying for Ministerial approval to conduct trials of new ship emission abatement methods; and

- amendments to the Sea Pollution (Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships) Regulations 2010 ( S.I. No. 313 of 2010 ).

These Regulations apply to all ships when they are in the inland waters, territorial seas, or exclusive economic zone of the State and, unless otherwise stated, to Irish ships everywhere.

1 OJ No. L 121, 11.5.1999, p.13

2 OJ No. L327, 27.11.2012, p.1

3 OJ No. L41, 17.2.2015, p.55

4 OJ No. L328, 14.12.2010, p.15