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Denmark reports five lines to the police for using high sulfur fuel

Denmark’s Environment and Food Ministry has reported five shipping lines to the police for violating the stricter requirements for ships’ emissions of sulfur.

“Control and enforcement of sulfur rules are important – both for our health, for the environment and to avoid unequal competition for law-abiding companies. The economic gain of cheating is great.

Therefore, we have put in with a reinforced control of sulfur in ship fuel, “said environmental and food minister Esben Lunde Larsen.

Checks are carried out by the Danish Maritime Authority on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency with oil samples taken from ships in Danish ports. The samples are analyzed to determine the content of sulfur. The controls are supplemented by aerial surveillance via a ‘sniffer’ that is installed on the Great Belt Bridge and on a small plane which can sniff out if ships in Danish waters are using illegal fuel.

Since January 2015 Danish authorities have taken and analyzed over 200 oil samples. As well as the five unspecified companies who have recently fallen foul of the ECA rulings, a sixth firm was reported to the police last year.

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.
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