Indian shipping regulator issues clarity on scrubber rule

India's Directorate General of Shipping (DGS) released a circular which aims to bring transparency to scrubber-equipped ships calling at Indian ports.

PHOTO: A cargo ship at Nhava Sheva, one of the largest container ports in India. Getty Images

The circular was released earlier this week after DGS noticed that some Indian ports were denying entry or berthing to ships burning fuels using scrubbers. These ships were forced to switch to low-sulphur fuels such as LSMGO before entering or berthing at the port, DGS added.

DGS says these additional requirements by port authorities contradict IMO’s 0.50% sulphur requirement. IMO allows vessels to run on 0.50% sulphur-compliant marine fuels or use scrubbers or exhaust gas cleaning systems (EGCS) to lower sulphur emissions to compliant levels of 0.50%.

Now port authorities must file a formal request with DGS with a risk and impact assessment report if they still insist on ships running on low-sulphur fuels rather than scrubbers. The regulator will conduct a thorough assessment before approving such a request.

By Nithin Chandran

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