A circular issued earlier this month by India’s Directorate of General Shipping (DGS) covers the collection of vessels’ fuel consumption data for the purposes of the newly implemented Energy Efficiency of Existing Ships (EEXI) and Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) regulations, and also requires bunker suppliers to generate and submit electronic bunker delivery notes.
The circular requests that Indian shipowners and managers should access and register with the Swachh Sagar portal in order submit the fuel consumption data for their vessels on a monthly basis.
Also, in a move which would appear to be one of the first obligations for a bunker supplier to use e-BDNs, the DGS requests that: ‘All registered and licensed bunker suppliers are required to access Swachh Sagar Portal digitally and complete the data related to bunker supply, generate an electronic Bunker Delivery Note on the online platform and issue to the bunker receiver.’
The Indian Register of Shipping (IRS), which undertakes the verification for bunker licence certification, is tasked with verifying that suppliers have issued e-BDNs for all stems supplied. In cases of non-compliance, the IRS will notify the DGS of the discrepancy and could recommend that a bunker licence certificate should not be supplied.
Comments and suggestions on the content of circular should be submitted by 13 January.
The actions of the DGS come as momentum grows in the industry for the digitalisation of the bunker delivery process, including the use of e-BDNs – a topic which is under review by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, amongst other organisations.
