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The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has issued a 32-page guidance on the IMO fuel oil consumption data collection system (IMO DCS), in accordance with Regulation 22A of MARPOL Annex VI.

The MPA notes that this requirement applies to all Singapore-registered ships of 5,000 gross tonnage (gt) and above, except:

a) ships solely engaged in international voyages within the port limits of Singapore;

b) ships not propelled by mechanical means; and

c) platforms including FPSOs, FSUs and drilling rigs.

The MPA notes that the review of SEEMP Part II and issuance of the confirmation of compliance can be carried out by any of the eight of the MPA's 'Recognised Organisations' (ROs) and need not necessary be the same RO that issues the ship's International Energy Efficiency Certificate (IEEC).

Companies are also strongly encouraged to submit their ships' SEEMP Part II to the RO of their choice on or before September 1, 2018 to ensure smooth implementation of the IMO DCS and to avoid any backlog that may delay the ship's collection and reporting of data.

Collection and verification of data

All Singapore-registered ships that are above 5000 gt are required to collect the data specified in Appendix IX of MARPOL Annex VI, for calendar year 2019, and each subsequent calendar year.

The ship must aggregate the data collected or portion and submit them to any of the MPA's eight ROs within three months after the end of each calendar year (i.e before March 31, 2020 for the calendar year 2019). The data collected must be submitted electronically using a standardised format approved by the RO.

The verification of data can be carried out by any of the eight ROs and need not necessary be the same RO that issues the ship's International Energy Efficiency Certificate (IEEC) or the ship's confirmation of compliance for SEEMP Part II.

Required documents for data verification

In addition to the fuel consumption data, ship owners, managers and operators are required to submit the following documents to facilitate data verification by ROs:

a) a copy of the ship's Data Collection Plan;

b) summaries of Bunker Delivery Notes (BDNs) with sufficient details to show that all fuel oil consumed by the ship is accounted for;

c) summaries of disaggregated data of fuel oil consumption, distance travelled and hours underway, in a format specified by the Administration;

d) information to demonstrate that the ship followed the Data Collection Plan set out in its SEEMP, including information on data gaps and how they were filled as well as how the event that caused the data gap was resolved; and

e) copies of documents containing information on the amount of fuel oil consumption, distance travelled and hours underway for the ship's voyages during the reporting period (i.e. the ship's official logbook, oil record book, BDNs, arrival/noon/departure reports, etc.).

Statement of compliance

Upon receipt of the reported ship's fuel oil consumption data and accompanying documents, the RO will verify if the data has been reported in accordance with Regulation 22A of MARPOL Annex VI.

Upon verification, the RO will issue a Statement of Compliance related to fuel oil consumption of the ship no later than five months from the beginning of the calendar year.

The Statement of Compliance is valid for the whole calendar year in which it is issued and the first five months of the following calendar year. All Statements of Compliance must be kept on board during the entire period of its validity.

To view and download the 32-page MPA guidance, please click here. Please note that page download times from the MPA site can be slow.