23AUG2019 - NEWS - Indonesia to enforce IMO 2020 rule on all shipping after initial pushback plans

Indonesia will fulfill its MARPOL Annex VI obligations to enforce the 0.5% sulfur cap regulations from January 1 2020, Sudiono, the director of shipping and maritime affairs at Indonesia’s transport ministry, told S&P Global Platts, dismissing earlier plans, suggesting only a partial implementation of the rule.

The country is fully committed to enforcing the International Maritime Organization’s 2020 rule on all Indonesian-flagged vessels both for domestic and foreign shipping, he said Wednesday.

This comes after the government had said some weeks ago that it would follow IMO’s 0.5% sulfur rules for international shipping, but it will continue to allow domestic shipping to burn 3.5% sulfur fuels citing national interests and a large volume of domestic high sulfur fuel oil.

The earlier decision had created an uproar among many industry participants including the Trident Alliance, a coalition of shipowners and operators working to promote the enforcement of maritime sulfur regulations, which said that Indonesia’s move to backtrack on the IMO 2020 rule for its domestic shipping would create an unfair distortion to the competitive landscape and will likely expose the country to legal consequences.