Coast Guard Headquarters to Conduct Focused Inspection on Sulfur Content in Ship Fuel Oil Until March Next Year

The Korea Coast Guard announced on the 2nd that it will conduct a comprehensive inspection of port areas from this month until March next year, during the government's 6th seasonal fine dust management period.

The Coast Guard will focus on inspecting whether ships operating domestically and internationally are using fuel oil that meets the sulfur content standards, and will also thoroughly check whether dust suppression facilities at port loading and unloading sites are operating properly.

The sulfur content in ship fuel oil is one of the main causes of fine dust generated in port areas. The sulfur content standard for fuel oil (heavy oil) used by ships is 0.5% or less. In particular, Korea's five major ports?Busan, Incheon, Ulsan, Yeosu·Gwangyang, and Pyeongtaek·Dangjin?apply a stricter sulfur content standard of 0.1% or less than general sea areas, according to the "Special Act on Air Quality Improvement in Port Areas, etc."

Samples are being collected to check whether the fuel oil used on the ship meets the sulfur content standards. Photo by Korea Coast Guard

If a ship is caught using non-compliant fuel oil, it faces imprisonment of up to one year or a fine of up to 10 million won. Since 2020, the Coast Guard has detected 111 cases of non-compliant fuel oil use.

A representative of the Coast Guard urged, "We ask maritime workers and related industries to continuously pay attention so that fine dust generated in port areas can be reduced and a clean marine environment can be created."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.