Norwegian Maritime Authority: New Legislation in Fjords to Enter into Force in February

January 7, 2019

The new environmental legislation regarding the world heritage fjords will enter into force with a slight delay, the Norwegian Maritime Authority (NMA) informed.

Illustration. Image Courtesy: Pixabay under CC0 Creative Commons license

Originally planned for January 1, 2019, the entry into force of the new legislation is now scheduled for the end of February 2019.

This is due to the fact that the consultation has to comply with the EU time limit requirements.

The NMA refers to the consultation circulated for comments on October 29, 2018, which includes proposed additions to the consultation of June 4, 2018. In the new consultation, the authority is proposing that fuel being used when the ship is in the world heritage fjords, must have a sulphur content of maximum 0.10% by weight.

Furthermore, the proposed amendments include a prohibition against the use of exhaust gas cleaning systems in the world heritage fjords. The prohibition against the use of exhaust gas cleaning systems applies to both open, closed and hybrid systems.

The NMA is also proposing a prohibition against incineration of waste on board ships in the world heritage fjords.

Moreover, the proposal includes that the NMA, upon written application from a company, may grant exemption for a ship from the Tier I requirements set out in MARPOL regulation VI/13, if it can be documented that the ship will comply with the Tier III requirements not later than January 1, 2022.