In-use and onboard fuel oil sampling

In-use and onboard fuel oil samples are the two samples a competent authority draws to check what a ship is burning and what it carries for use, provided for in MARPOL Annex VI Regulation 14.8 as inserted by MEPC.324(75), in force 1 April 2022. The in-use sample comes from a designated sampling point in the fuel service line; the onboard sample, defined at Regulation 2.1.24, comes from a tank.

The full article will cover the sampling point requirements of Regulations 14.8 to 14.13, including the deadline for existing ships at the first renewal survey on or after 1 April 2023, and the exemption for low-flashpoint and gas fuel service systems in Regulation 14.12. It will set out the guidance in MEPC.1/Circ.864/Rev.1 of 21 May 2019 for in-use samples and MEPC.1/Circ.889 of 7 December 2020 for onboard samples, and how Part 2 of Appendix VI applies the 0.53% and 0.11% test margins.

It links to the Appendix VI verification procedure and FONAR and BDN sulphur compliance evidence .