New rules on sulphur in marine fuels published

On 27 November, the final text of the revised directive limiting the sulphur content of marine fuels was published in the Official Journal of the European Union. The name is “Directive 2012/33/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 November 2012 amending Council Directive 1999/32/EC as regards the sulphur content of marine fuels.” It comes into force 20 days after the date of publication and member states must transpose it into national legislation before 18 June 2014.

The directive prescribes that a global limit of 0.50 per cent sulphur will apply in all EU seas by 2020. An even stricter sulphur limit of 0.10 per cent will apply as from 2015 in so-called Sulphur Emissions Control Areas (SECAs).

Link: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ%3aL%3a2012%3a327%3a0001%3a0013%3aEN%3aPDF

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