(1) Reasons for Proposal

As the Marine Environment Management Act was amended and (promulgated on March 24, 2020) to incorporate the amendments to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (1973), including the tightening of the permissible levels of sulfur content in ship fuel oil and the control of greenhouse gas emissions from ships, this amendment aims to determine the matters delegated under the Act such as establishing a ship energy efficiency management plan and reporting on a ship’s annual fuel oil usage, and to tighten the permissible emission levels of nitrogen oxides from the diesel engines installed on ships imported from abroad, thereby remedying some of the inadequacies revealed in the operation of the system.

(2) Major Provisions

A. Recording the discharge of the unsterilized waste (excreta), etc., in the engineer’s logbook (Article 13-2 (5)). 

Ensure that when discharging unground or non-sterilized excreta generated from a ship into the sea according to the approved procedures, record the discharge area, etc., in the engineer’s logbook.

B. Inspection of the ship energy efficiency management plan (Article 30-4)

Obligate owners of ships exceeding 5,000 gross tons and used for international voyage to undergo inspection of their ship energy efficiency management plans, and an Administrator of Regional Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Office to issue an energy efficiency inspection certificate to a ship which has passed an energy efficiency inspection conducted according to the prescribed standards.

C. Obligation to report on the annual usage of ship fuel oil, etc. (Article 30-5)

Make it obligatory for owners of ships exceeding 5,000 gross tons and used for international voyage to report each year on their annual usage of fuel oil, voyage distance, voyage time, etc., to the relevant Administrator of Regional Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Office according to their ship energy efficiency management plans, and for the Administrator to issue a certificate of the usage of ship fuel oil provided that the report is verified.

D. Exceptional procedures for permitting the use of unsuitable fuel oil (Article 34 (3) and (4))

With respect to a ship which cannot be supplied with fuel oil that meets the permissible limits of sulfur content despite its effort to obtain it, put an exceptional procedure in place for the ship in question to use unsuitable fuel oil, and obligate it to record the measures taken in the engineer’s logbook when the exhaust fume purifier fails to work.

E. Shortening the period of retaining fuel oil samples (Article 35 (3))

Shorten the period of retaining samples of fuel oil for the ships used for voyage only in home waters, etc., from the existing 1 year to 3 to 6 months.

F. Tightening the permissible emission levels of nitrogen oxides from the diesel engines of imported ships (attached Table 21-2, No. 2, item I)

Progressively tighten the permissible emission levels of nitrogen oxides from the diesel engines installed in the imported ships used for voyage in the home waters, obligating the ships imported after Jan. 1, 2021 to meet at least permissible Limit 1, and those imported after Jan. 1, 2025 to meet Limit 2.