1. Cancellation of SPROs Approval by MSA

In accordance with the Regulation of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on the Prevention and Control of Marine Pollution from Ships (“the Regulations”), shipowners/operators of certain ships are required to enter into a pollution clean-up contract with a Maritime Safety Agency (MSA) approved ship pollution response organizations (SPROs) before the ship enters a PRC port.

The MSA currently has evaluated qualification of SPROs, given an approval to SPRO who found to meet the certain requirements and issued a certificate (a Ship Pollution Response Unit Qualification Certificate) showing that it has been approved by the MSA for clean-up response.

The Ministry of Transport of PRC (MOT), however, issued a notice on cancellation of quality assessment and certification of SPROs.  Once this notice becomes effective, the MSA will no longer approve SPROs nor issue a certificate to an approved SPRO.  However, this does not mean that the requirements for SPROs contracts will no longer be needed.  Shipowners/operators are still required to enter into a contract with a qualified SPRO, and it is now shipowners/operators’ responsibility to evaluate and ensure that the SPRO they contract with meets the requirements. The International Group of P&I Clubs (IG) is in dialogue with the MSA through the IG’s lawyer in Beijing about how shipowners/operators can assess the qualification of SPROs, and further developments will be provided as the information becomes available.

2. Qianhe issue

The Club is aware that certain investigations are taking place into Qianhe, one of the major SPROs in China, by the customs authority in China.  The IG is closely monitoring the situation through the IG’s lawyer.

As of today, Qianhe remains a qualified and approved SPRO and their status in this regard remains valid and has not been revoked.  Members with annual contracts with Qianhe and no immediate schedule of a Chinese port call, therefore, need not do anything at present regarding those contracts since they still remain valid as of today, but if Members have a ship immediately going into a Chinese port where their contracted SPRO is Qianhe, they should look to make alternative arrangements with another SPRO on a single voyage basis until Qianhe’s status is clarified.

Members looking to sing SPRO contracts in ports in China where Qianhe are operation should check whether other SPROs operate in those ports and take advice from the Club with regard to the status of such SPROs’ tariffs and contract wordings.

Huatai Insurance Agency & Consultant Service Ltd, the correspondents in China, has issued the circular on this matter and we hereto attach it for the Members’ reference.