The Norwegian Maritime Authority (NMA) has actually fined a Greek shipowner almost $80,000 for breaching a brand-new regulation restricting the sulphur web content of gas made use of by ships running in globe heritage arms.

The penalties originate from the procedure of the MS Magellan, possessed by the Greek firm Global Cruise Lines Ltd, in 2 of the arms shielded under brand-new ecological demands associated with exhausts and also discharges from ships that became part of pressure March 1, 2019.

According to the NMA, on April 16 it obtained notes of issue regarding smoke exhausts from the Bahamas- signed up cruise liner as it was berthed in Fl åm. The records were adhered to up by an assessment aboard when the ship got to Geiranger the complying with. During the examination, NMA land surveyors determined the sulphur web content of the ship’s gas to be 0.17 %.

The optimum enabled sulphur web content under the brand-new guidelines is 0.10%.

Tracking of the vessel’s AIS signal reveals that the vessel made ports of phone call at both Eidfjord and also Fl åm in the days before the port of phone call at Geiranger, both of which lie within the North Sea ECA. The ship got to Eidfjord from Tilbury, England, where it left port on April 13.

“Our documentation shows that the ships has entered two world heritage fjords with sulphur values far beyond the legal limit values,” states Bj ørn Pedersen, Head of Department of Legislation and also International Relations in the NMA.

As an outcome of the offense, Global Cruise Lines has actually been handed a notification of an infraction penalty of 700,000 NOK (around $US80,000). The penalty additionally notes the very first time the Norwegian Maritime Authority (NMA) has actually offered a notification of an infraction penalty as an outcome of the brand-new guidelines.

“The extent of the violation is significant in this case, where a ship has sailed a considerable distance within the emission control area using a fuel with an excessive sulphur content,” the NMA claimed in a declaration. “Furthermore, as an aggravating factor, emphasis is put on the fact that the new rules concerning the world heritage fjords were violated. Overall, this implies that violation fines at a historic high level are imposed on the company.”