PORT MARINE CIRCULAR NO. 05 OF 2018 CONTROL OF SMOKE EMISSIONS BY VESSELS IN PORT
MARITIME AND PORT AUTHORITY OF SINGAPORE
PORT MARINE CIRCULAR
NO. 5 OF 2018
22 May 2018
Shipping Community
Harbour Craft Community
CONTROL OF SMOKE EMISSIONS BY VESSELS IN PORT
1 The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) would like to remind
ship masters and owners of vessels to take all necessary measures to prevent
their vessels from emitting excessive soot, ash, or dark smoke from engine
exhaust and/or ancillary shipboard machineries throughout the duration of
vessel stay in port.
2 MPA takes a serious view of vessels emitting excessive smoke as it can
adversely affect the air quality in the atmosphere. MPA will take stern action
against offenders.
3 MPA would also like to draw the attention of ship masters and owners of
craft in the port to Regulation 66 of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore
(Port) Regulations which states that:
“No person may cause smoke, soot, ash or grit to be emitted from a
vessel in such quantity or density as may, in the opinion of the Authority, be a
nuisance.”
4 Failure to comply with the said regulation is an offence for which
offenders can be prosecuted in Court. If convicted, offenders may be fined up
to $5,000.
5 A list of guidelines to prevent dark smoke emission is set out in
Appendix 1.
6 For any enquiry, please contact Marine Safety Control Centre at Tel: +65
6325 2488 / 6325 2489.
CAPT KEVIN WONG
PORT MASTER
MARITIME AND PORT AUTHORITY OF SINGAPORE
APPENDIX 1
Definition of Dark Smoke and Prohibition on Emission of Dark Smoke
- Smoke includes soot, ash, grit and gritty particles emitted in smoke or
steam.
Typical Causes of Dark Smoke Emission and Guidelines for Prevention
- For ships that are en route, i.e. with the main engine running, there
should be no reason for dark smoke to be emitted from the main engine funnel
if the main engine’s fuel, scavenge air and exhaust gas systems and equipment
are maintained in good working condition. Regular and proper maintenance of
components such as fuel oil heaters, fuel injectors, scavenge air coolers and
turbochargers, including frequent washing of exhaust gas economizers (where
applicable) go a long way to help reduce the likelihood of dark smoke or excess
soot emission from the main engine funnel. Reducing the amount of carbon
deposit in the exhaust stream will also help in reducing the amount of dark
smoke or soot emission during the initial “kick” when the engine is started.
- For ships that are at anchorage or at berth, emission of dark smoke can
be narrowed down principally to three types of machinery systems, namely
generator engines, boilers or inert gas generators.
- For generator engines, possible causes of dark smoke emission are
similar to those mentioned for main engine in paragraph 2, i.e. it is important
that the engine’s fuel, scavenge air and exhaust gas systems and equipment
are maintained in good working condition. Additionally, it is also helpful to
ensure that generators are running at optimal load and are not running under
excessively low load or over-loaded conditions.
- For boilers and inert gas generators, control of the correct air-fuel
mixture ratio is important to ensure optimum combustion in the furnace to avoid
excessive unburnt fuel, carbon deposits and dark smoke emissions. Regular
and proper maintenance of the fuel and air systems and components are
essential to ensure proper combustion and reduce likelihood of dark smoke
emission. Boiler control settings such as purge timings should be set in
accordance with manufacturer’s recommendation for safety reason and also
optimum duration of the purging sequence.
- Aside from good maintenance of the ship’s machinery and systems,
ship’s crew should also be vigilant and conduct a frequent check on the funnel
emission. The funnel of a ship integrates all the exhaust trunking running from
main engine, generator engines and boiler inside one enclosure. If dark smoke
is seen being emitting for prolonged durations from the funnel, the crew should
immediately go to the bridge deck and check from which particular exhaust
trunk the dark smoke is spewing, and change over or stop the defective
machinery if possible, before carrying out troubleshooting measures.
- Pollution of the air from emission of dark smoke from ships is a serious
concern. With due care and diligence, emission of dark smoke from ships can
be minimized and prevented as elaborated in the preceding paragraphs.