UAE takes action against MSC over failure to adhere to new HSFO carriage ban

The MSC Joanna, a 9,200 teu boxship, has been banned from calling in UAE waters for a year and the ship’s master cannot work on any ships visiting the Middle Eastern nation and faces legal action as the ship becomes one of the first landmark failures to adhere to the new March 1 ban on the carriage high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO).

The Federal Transport Authority of the UAE said the ship was found to be carrying 700 tons of HSFO when it called at Jebel Ali port this month, despite repeated warnings to debunker the fuel prior to arrival. 

The ship then departed the port without offloading the fuel as requested by local authorities.

The ban on carrying HSFO for all non-scrubber fitted ships is the second part of the global sulphur cap which came into effect this year. 

MSC, the world’s second largest containerline, has yet to reply to questions sent by Splash earlier today.