ISS offers SPRO help in China

Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS) has launched an intermediary service for ships calling at ports in China. The new service responds to changes in the pollution prevention and control regulations, particularly the introduction of the Prevention and Control of Marine Pollution from Ships directive issued by China’s Maritime Safety Agency (MSA). The directive, which took effect on January 1, requires all ships carrying polluting or hazardous cargoes, as well as all other ships of 10,000 gt or more, to have in place a contract with an approved Ship Pollution Response Organisation (SPRO). Most ports have already introduced the requirement and MSA is expecting full compliance by March 1.

ISS’s new service eliminates the need for shipowners to manage contracts and multiple transactions with SPROs at their various ports of call. Rather, based on MSA’s list of approved SPROs, ISS will manage the entire process. This can sit alongside its other agency and crew logistics services, ensuring maximum efficiency.

The intermediary service is provided both on a per-call basis and as an annual scheme, particularly for owners with several ships calling regularly in China. The service is designed to reduce the risk that ships are barred from entering a port because of a lack of the correct paperwork.

“Fleet operators told us they were concerned about the administrative burden being placed on them by the new Chinese regulations and the risk of severe delays to their vessels should they not be in compliance,” says David Young, general manager of ISS China in Shanghai. “Based on in-depth knowledge of the ports in which it operates, ISS has, at a stroke, removed all of those concerns.

www.iss-shipping.com