Environment and regulation

The two dates and two exceptions in the Arctic ban on using and carrying heavy fuel oil (MARPOL Annex I Regulation 43A)

Resolution MEPC.329(76) added a new regulation 43A to MARPOL Annex I. It prohibits the use and carriage of heavy fuel oil as fuel in Arctic waters. There are two dates and two exceptions. Remembering one date or one exception gets it wrong.

This regulation is a regional regime. The area is Arctic waters as defined in regulation 46.2, and the ships covered are those using or carrying the oils of regulation 43.1.2 as fuel in those waters. It is not a worldwide obligation. Carrying the same fuel in other sea areas is not what this regulation stops. It bites from the moment a ship enters Arctic waters.

This article starts with the body of the prohibition, separates the two dates and the two exceptions, and ends with the cleaning exemption and the difference from regulation 43 for the Antarctic.

The prohibition covers both use and carriage and the date is 2024-07-01

1 With the exception of ships engaged in securing the safety of ships or in search and rescue operations, and ships dedicated to oil spill preparedness and response, the use and carriage of oils listed in regulation 43.1.2 of this Annex as fuel by ships shall be prohibited in Arctic waters, as defined in regulation 46.2 of this Annex, on or after 1 July 2024.

What is prohibited is use and carriage. Burning and carrying as fuel are caught together. The fuel in the tanks is what is judged. The oils covered are those other than crude oil that regulation 43.1.2 defines by density and viscosity. That definition was first written for the Antarctic in regulation 43, and regulation 43A for the Arctic borrows it.

Three exclusions sit at the head of the text: ships engaged in securing the safety of ships, ships in search and rescue operations, and ships dedicated to oil spill preparedness and response. These three stay outside the regulation whatever the date.

Ships with protected fuel tanks have until 2029-07-01

2 Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1 of this regulation, for ships to which regulation 12A of this Annex or regulation 1.2.1 of chapter 1 of part II-A of the Polar Code applies, the use and carriage of oils listed in regulation 43.1.2 of this Annex as fuel by those ships shall be prohibited in Arctic waters, as defined in regulation 46.2 of this Annex, on or after 1 July 2029.

The first exception comes from the ship’s construction. It covers ships to which regulation 12A of this Annex or regulation 1.2.1 of chapter 1 of part II-A of the Polar Code applies. Both are requirements that keep fuel tanks away from the shell plating. For those ships the date is 2029-07-01, not 2024-07-01.

Which ships regulation 12A applies to was settled by resolution MEPC.141(54).

1 This regulation shall apply to all ships with an aggregate oil fuel capacity of 600 m3 and above which are delivered on or after 1 August 2010, as defined in regulation 1.28.9 of this Annex.

Two conditions apply together: aggregate oil fuel capacity and delivery date. A ship that meets them and falls under regulation 12A may use heavy fuel oil until 2029-07-01. A ship that does not is caught from 2024-07-01.

Ship	Prohibition from
Ships in general	2024-07-01
Ships under regulation 12A or regulation 1.2.1 of chapter 1 of part II-A of the Polar Code	2029-07-01

No tank cleaning is required even where heavy fuel oil was used before

3 When prior operations have included the use and carriage of oils listed in regulation 43.1.2 of this Annex as fuel, the cleaning or flushing of tanks or pipelines is not required.

A ship that burned heavy fuel oil before the ban, changed fuel and then enters Arctic waters is not required to clean or flush its tanks and pipelines. Regulation 43 for the Antarctic has the same sentence. It is a space the text opened in advance so that residue in the bottom of a tank does not become a violation.

What this paragraph exempts is cleaning, not use. Residue may remain, but burning that fuel or loading more of it falls under the prohibition in paragraph 1 as before.

A coastal State may waive only for its own ships and that too ends on 2029-07-01

4 Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 of this regulation, the Administration of a Party to the present Convention the coastline of which borders on Arctic waters may temporarily waive the requirements of paragraph 1 of this regulation for ships flying the flag of that Party while operating in waters subject to the sovereignty or jurisdiction of that Party, taking into account the guidelines to be developed by the Organization. No waivers issued under this paragraph shall apply on or after 1 July 2029.

The second exception comes not from the ship’s construction but from the flag and the waters. Three conditions stack. The Administration granting the waiver must be a Party whose coastline borders on Arctic waters. The ship receiving it must fly that Party’s flag. The waters in which it holds must be subject to that Party’s sovereignty or jurisdiction.

If any one of the three is missing the waiver does not reach. A ship of another flag entering those waters has no waiver. Even the Party’s own ship loses the waiver once it leaves those waters. And no waiver applies on or after 2029-07-01. The same date as the first exception.

5 The Administration of a Party to the present Convention which allows application of paragraph 4 of this regulation shall communicate to the Organization for circulation to the Parties particulars of the waiver thereof, for their information and appropriate action, if any.

An Administration that grants a waiver communicates its particulars to the Organization, which circulates them to the Parties. A waiver is not something known only inside that country. Another Party has to be able to confirm that the waiver exists when it sees the ship in its own port.

Regulation 46 fixes the area and a different regulation handles the Antarctic

3 Polar waters means Arctic waters and/or the Antarctic area.

Polar waters is the term for Arctic waters and the Antarctic area together. Regulation 43A applies only to Arctic waters among them. The boundary of Arctic waters is fixed by coordinates in regulation 46.2. It is a definition inserted by resolution MEPC.265(68) when the Polar Code was taken in.

For the Antarctic area there is regulation 43, inserted by resolution MEPC.189(60). The two regulations share the definition of the oils but differ in scope. Regulation 43 for the Antarctic prohibits carriage in bulk as cargo as well as use and carriage as fuel. Regulation 43A for the Arctic prohibits use and carriage as fuel only. Heavy fuel oil carried as cargo is not the subject of regulation 43A.

Worth confirming

The passages above come from the annex to resolution MEPC.329(76) (regulation 43A), regulation 46 in resolution MEPC.265(68), and regulation 12A in resolution MEPC.141(54). The resolution states that the amendments enter into force on 2022-11-01. The coordinates of Arctic waters in regulation 46.2 are long and are not reproduced.

The density and viscosity figures set by regulation 43.1.2 have to be checked directly in the text of resolution MEPC.189(60). This article does not reproduce them. The Organization’s guidelines applying to the waiver in paragraph 4 were to be developed at the time of the amendment and are not covered here. The requirements of the Polar Code itself are not covered either.

You can consult the cited source documents

These links lead to the official publishers of the documents discussed here. Match the edition and provisions cited in the article, and check subsequent amendments and flag-state implementation before applying them.

Bellbook takes position and fuel consumption and remaining quantity by fuel type in for every voyage

The date a ship entered Arctic waters and the type of fuel it was using and carrying at the time are hard to reconstruct later. Bellbook takes position and consumption and remaining quantity by fuel type in from the port call reports and the Noon report, so which fuel the ship crossed those waters on in which voyage can be pulled out.

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