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China publishes new measures for ship pollution response regime

MSA no longer publishes recommended SPRO Agreement wording and parties are now free to negotiate all terms, updates No
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sergio souza

Sachin Shanbhag, Claims Director of marine insurer, North on Friday (21 February) published an article on new regulations of the People’s Republic of China on the prevention and control of marine pollution from ships:

We refer Members to previous Circulars resting with Circular No 2015/013 of June 2015 on the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on the Prevention and Control of Marine Pollution from Ships and the requirement that Owners/Operators of (a) any ship carrying polluting and hazardous cargoes in bulk or (b) any other ship above 10,000 GT enter into a pollution clean-up contract with a Ship Pollution Response Organisation (SPRO) before the ship enters a PRC port or engages in loading, discharge or ship-to-ship transfers outside of the port but within 20 nautical miles off shore.

Members are informed that the PRC Maritime Safety Agency (MSA) recently published new Measures of Administration on Agreement for Ship Pollution Response Regime, which will become effective on 1 March 2020. In conjunction with the new Measures, the MSA has also published a Directory of Hazardous Bulk Liquid Cargo Apt to Cause Pollution (the “Directory”) for which oil booms need to be deployed during cargo operations or an Agreement with a SPRO needs to be concluded. The International Group (IG) has checked this effective date with the China MSA and it has been confirmed that this date will remain as 1 March 2020 and will not be postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

As can be seen from the attached updated SPRO table, there is no material change to the SPRO requirements as a result, however Members will note that from 1 March 2020, no SPRO Agreements will be needed for any of the following:

  1. Any ship under 10,000 GT either in ballast or carrying a liquid cargo in bulk not listed in the Directory; or
  2. Any ship driven by clean fuels and carrying a liquid cargo not in bulk.

Oil booming is only required, inter alia, for ships loading, discharging, transferring over 300 MT of cargoes listed in the Directory.

Pursuant to the new Measures, the MSA no longer publishes its own recommended SPRO Agreement wording and the parties are free to negotiate all terms. A new Committee has been established under the auspices of the China Diving and Salvage Association (CDSA) which is due to take responsibility for training and assessing the capabilities of SPROs, establishing a central database for information as to SPRO capabilities and negotiating contract terms. However, this Committee is in its infancy such that for the time-being the position remains unchanged from that advised in the previous Circular (Circular No 2015/013 of June 2015) and Owners are advised to check with local agents, MSAs and the Club for the purposes of identifying SPROs in individual Chinese ports.

Members should also note the following:

  • Where the port which the ship is entering, leaving or operating from does not have a SPRO with the required level of response capability, the Owner is not required to enter into an Agreement with a SPRO;
  • Owners are required to report to the MSA any SPRO that does not fulfil its emergency standby obligations, and
  • Owners are required to continue to report to the local MSA any cases of ship sourced pollution in the waters of the PRC.

The IG has reviewed the existing IG recommended SPRO Agreement wording in light of these developments and, at present, it is recommended that Owners continue to sign SPRO Agreements on the attached IG recommended wording.  Members will be informed if there are any changes to the Agreement wording, including in light of any future negotiations with the CDSA Committee. It is recommended that Owners entering into new SPRO arrangements continue to ensure that the SPRO also provides an accompanying response tariff (which can be checked with the Club).

The IG will continue to monitor developments, particularly the work of the CDSA and report to Members. In the interim, any Member requested to agree to a variation of the attached recommended contract is advised to check with the Club to ensure that such variations do not cause the contract to fall outside the scope of the IG Guidelines.

If Members are in any doubt about the contract and SPRO tariff, then it is recommended that they contact the Club before contracting with any SPRO.

All Clubs in the International Group of P&I Clubs have issued similar Circulars.


Source: North
Photo credit: sergio souza on Unsplash
Published: 24 February, 2020

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Winding up

Singapore: Liquidators of Nan Ho Maritime, Nan Xin Maritime issue notices of dividend

Nan Ho Maritime’s second interim dividend and Nan Xin Maritime’s second and final dividend are payable from 4 September, according to Government Gazette notices.
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22 hours ago

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September 7, 2026

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Notices of dividend for Nan Ho Maritime Pte Ltd and Nan Xin Maritime Pte Ltd, which are currently in creditors’ voluntary liquidation, were published on the Government Gazette on Friday (4 September). 

The following are the details of the notice for Nan Ho Maritime:

Name of Company : Nan Ho Maritime (Pte.) Ltd. (In Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation)
Unique Entity No. / Registration No. : 200814315C
Address of Former Registered Office : 21 Bukit Batok Crescent, #22-70 WCEGA Tower, Singapore 658065
Amount per centum : 2.305 per centum of all admitted ordinary claims
First and Final or otherwise : Second interim dividend
When Payable : 4 September 2026 onwards
Where Payable : c/o AAG Corporate Advisory Pte. Ltd., 11 Collyer Quay, #07-02 The Arcade, Singapore 049317

The following are the details of the notice for Nan Xin Maritime:

Name of Company : Nan Xin Maritime (Pte.) Ltd. (In Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation)
Unique Entity No. / Registration No. : 201701966W
Address of Former Registered Office : 21 Bukit Batok Crescent, #22-70 WCEGA Tower, Singapore 658065
Amount per centum : 3.980 per centum of all admitted ordinary claims
First and Final or otherwise : Second and final dividend
When Payable : 4th day of September 2026 onwards
Where Payable : c/o AAG Corporate Advisory Pte. Ltd., 11 Collyer Quay, #07-02 The Arcade, Singapore 049317

 

Photo credit: Benjamin Child
Published: 7 September, 2026

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LNG Bunkering

Singapore-based EPS takes delivery of three LNG dual-fuel bulk carriers

Three vessels are the third, fourth and fifth in the company’s series of 14 Newcastlemaxes being built at the yard, and were delivered five months ahead of their contracted delivery dates.
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22 hours ago

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September 7, 2026

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Singapore-based Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS) on Friday (4 September) announced the naming and delivery of three new LNG dual-fuel Newcastlemax bulk carriers from China’s Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding. 

Cyril Ducau, CEO of EPS, said the vessels were named Mount Victoria, Mount Yulong and Mount Wuyi. 

The three vessels are the third, fourth and fifth in the company’s series of 14 Newcastlemaxes being built at the yard, and were delivered five months ahead of their contracted delivery dates.

“A big thank you to CSSC Group and Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding, working alongside our EPS team, for the tremendous collaboration and commitment behind this achievement,” Ducau said in a social media post.  

 

Photo credit: Eastern Pacific Shipping
Published: 7 September, 2026

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Port & Regulatory

ISWG-GHG 22: IMO working group aims to present NZF text at MEPC 85

The Chair expressed his observation of a genuine willingness within the Group to make concrete further progress at the next ISWG-GHG meeting and work towards presenting text to MEPC 85.
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22 hours ago

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September 7, 2026

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IMO

The Intersessional Working Group on Reduction of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions from Ships (ISWG-GHG 22) met for its 22nd meeting from 1 to 4 September 2026, chaired by Mr. Sveinung Oftedal (Norway), according to the International Maritime Organization on Friday (4 September). 

According to a meeting summary by IMO, the meeting had a high level of participation, with nearly 1200 registered participants, in person and online.

During the meeting participants considered the following agenda items:

Consideration of proposals, including documents submitted to MEPC 84 and 85, previous sessions of ISWG-GHG, as well as documents submitted to ISWG-GHG 22, on how to address concerns with the draft amendments to MARPOL Annex VI on the Net-Zero Framework, in line with the 2023 IMO GHG Strategy

Following constructive discussions, the Chair expressed his observation of a genuine willingness within the Group to make concrete further progress at the next ISWG-GHG meeting and work towards presenting text to MEPC 85 that adequately addresses the noted progress made in the consideration of proposals on how to address concerns raised regarding the draft amendments to MARPOL Annex VI on the mid-term measure.

The Group invited interested delegations to continue to consult intersessionally to address remaining concerns with the draft amendments to MARPOL Annex VI, in line with the 2023 IMO GHG Strategy, taking into account views expressed at the Group’s session, with a view to submitting concrete proposals reflecting enhanced convergence allowing timely adoption and effective implementation.

Further consideration of the draft guidelines supporting the uniform and effective implementation of IMO’s mid-term measures.

The Group held a preliminary exchange of views on this agenda item, although time became a limiting factor and the Group and agreed to defer the consideration of all documents submitted to this session under this agenda item to ISWG-GHG 23 (23-27 November 2026).

Further consideration of the development of the IMO Life Cycle GHG Assessment (LCA) framework.

Due to time constraints, the Group was not able to consider the agenda item related to the IMO Life Cycle GHG Assessment (LCA) framework. The Group deferred the consideration of those documents to ISWG-GHG 23, in conjunction with the report of the fourth meeting of the GESAMP-LCA Working Group expected to be submitted to MEPC 85.

Next steps

The next meeting of the Intersessional Working Group on Reduction of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions from Ships (ISWG-GHG 23) is scheduled for 23 to 27 November 2026, ahead of MEPC 85 (30 November to 3 December).

The second extraordinary session of MEPC (adjourned last October) is scheduled to resume on 4 December, subject to discussions at MEPC 85.

 

Photo credit: International Maritime Organization
Published: 7 September, 2026

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