EU officials stated that they would amend the EU sulfur directive. The new directive would be made public by 2011. The amendment pertains to harmonizing the EU regulations with those of Marpol Annex VI.

The following will be the changes made by EU:
1. The sulfur content in ECA area North Sea, Baltic Sea and English Channel will be lowered from 1.5% to 1.00% from 2011. Even now, EU has advised that ships should comply with the stricter limit of Marpol Annex VI of 1.00%

2. All sulfur limits will be stated to two decimals such as 1.00% and not 1.0%. The two decimal sulfur limit will also be used for EU specific limit of 0.10% for vessels at berth.

Hopefully California ARB regulations will also be harmonized with Marpol Annex VI regulations so that the shipping industry has a single set of regulations to comply.

Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions.

Best regards,
Dr.Vis
Tel: USA (713) 842-1985
Fax: USA (713) 842-1981
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Web: http://www.viswalab.com