Development of a Bunker Norm for Ships

1. Introduction

This report on the "Development of a Bunker Norm for Ships" was prepared for the Danish Environmental Protection Agency (Danish EPA) for the purpose of an adjustment, if any, of the content of sulphur in bunker oil, the Danish EPA having found that the definitions used in Directive 93/12/EEC about gas oil are not relevant for shipowners when they purchase bunker oil. Please refer to the terms of reference for the working group.

The start of the work aims to clarify which types of machinery are installed in the various types of ship that navigate Danish waters.

The ships have been divided in the following manner:

Ferries:

• Primary services
• Secondary services
• International services
• High-speed ferry services

• Merchant vessels

• Fishing vessels

• Leisure craft

In the light of the above classification of the ships, an investigation must be made to reveal if the norms of several types of ship can be combined so as to reduce the number of norms.

A review is given of the bunker oil typically used by the ship’s machinery, and a comparison is made with the type of oil specified by the engine manufacturer for the relevant type of machinery.

On the basis of the abovementioned used and specified fuel oils, they are classified according to the ISO standard and CIMAC’s specifications for bunker oil.

This fuel oil norm/specification is then established with ISO standards and CIMAC as starting point, but with the addition of maximum and minimum values for each component as well as other comments – having regard to properties in terms of industrial engineering and environmental technology, as well as distillation losses at 350⁰C and 250⁰C (which are the Directive’s definition) and – finally – the supply assurance for the type of fuel oil in question.

It is the environmental-policy aim and principle of the EU Community to ensure that the population is effectively protected against the known health risk from sulphur dioxide emissions, and to protect the environment by preventing sulphur fall-outs from exceeding the critical impacts and levels.

Emissions of sulphur dioxide contribute significantly to acidification within the EU. Sulphur dioxide has a marked impact on human health and on the environment as such. Acidification and sulphur dioxide in the atmosphere are damaging to sensitive ecosystems, forest growth, and buildings.

A steering group with the following members was attached to the project:

Mr. Chr. Lützen, A.P. Møller, Danish Shipowners’ Association
Mr. Peter Poulsen, Scandlines a/s
Mr. Jim Pedersen, OW Bunker, Aalborg
Mr. Kjeld Åbo, MAN/B&W
Ms. Kirsten Warnøe, Danish Environmental Protection Agency
Mr. Finn Boye, Carl Bro a/s