Rajiv Nigam, general manager – technical services group for WSM, told attendees at the seminar, “Time is of essence here.”
In terms of cleaning tanks ahead of using compliant LFSO ahead of the 1 January 2020 deadline to start using 0.5% sulphur fuel Nigam said that if you were planning to this in a yard you need to plan to day for space at a shipyard, while if you planned to clean one tank at a time while still trading, you also needed to plan today. He also stressed training the crew in procedures.
Nigam set out a timeline for preparation for the switchover to compliant fuel which notably started as early as January this year. The timeline is set out below:
Jan – Aug 2019 - Plan with charterer/owner
Mar - Cleaning/modification of tanks/pipes
Jul - Bunker changeover procedure explained to crew
Aug - Finalise switchover plan
Sept – Oct - Onboard bunkers switched to compliant fuel
Nov - Sea trial with compliant fuel
Dec - Any fuel containing 0.5% sulphur and above to be consumed by 31 December 2019
Jan 2020 - IMO Sulphur Cap 2020 enters into force
Feb - All tanks cleaned and records maintained with evidence by 29 February 2020
Read more: Sulphur 2020 tank cleaning challenge could cost billions
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