Resumption of MOU Inspections

One of the many legal provisions enacted since the state of alarm decreed by the Spanish Government as a consequence of the Cvid-19 crisis was the Ministerial Order 258/2020, suspending all MOU inspections of foreign vessels in Spanish ports. This legal provision established  some exceptions, such as inspections to vessels involved in a collision, or inspections to suspend or cancell the class for safety reasons, or inspections to vessels reported by other Statate member of the Paris memorandum, etc. We are not awate of any inspections of a foreign vessel during the state of alarm.

 With the end of the state of alarm on 22nd June , the inspections of foreign vessels in Spanish ports will be resumed as usual (Royal Decree 1837/2000 and 1737/2010). It is to be noted that although one of the main concerns of the Spanish Maritime Authorities is the compliance of the limits in fuel used on board ships a per MARPOL Annex VI a new regime of sanctions for pollutants, which was expected,  has not yet been published. Currently, pollutants are exposed to a fine of an amount  up to 120,000€ according to the regime of sanctions for this kind of breaches, still in force.