China’s Ministry of Transport to enforce ECA rules on ports along Yangtze River Delta

China’s Ministry of Transport announced that new Emission Control Area (ECA) regulations will become compulsory at Yangtze River Delta core ports starting April. This means that ships berting in these ports must use fuel with a maximum sulphur content of 0.5%. The ports that will be affected include Shanghai, Zhoushan, Ningbo, Suzhou, Zhanjiagang and Nantong. The first hour after arrival and the final hour before departure are exempted from the rule.

The tranport ministry said that it will assess the implementation of the ECA regulation over the next three years to determine if the maximum sulphur content for bunker fuels should be lowered.

Vessels which are caught to be in violation of this rule will be fined between CNY 10,000 (USD 1,513) and CNY 100,000 (USD 15,135).