DENMARK Law and Practice Contributed by: Johannes Grove Nielsen and Camilla Søgaard Hudson, Bech-Bruun
delivery suddenly makes it impossible to deliver the goods amidst an already ongoing conflict. It should be noted that the wording of a force majeure clause may influence the foregoing, as its wording would take precedence over the Danish legal principles regarding force majeure mentioned previously. If an event has resulted in the performance of the contract being more burdensome for the performing party, this does not relieve the per - forming party from his or her obligations under the contract. 8.2 Enforcement of the IMO 2020 Rule Relating to Limitation on the Sulphur Content of Fuel Oil Denmark has implemented the IMO 2020 limita - tion on the sulphur content of fuel oil on board ships in EU waters. This was implemented in a statutory order that came into force on 1 Janu - ary 2020. According to the statutory order, vessels sailing in SOx-control emission areas are not allowed to use bunker fuel with a sulphur content of more than 0.10%. The same limit of sulphur content also applies for ships calling at a port outside a SOx-control emission area within the EU. These limitations in sulphur content have been effective since 2015 as a result of Directive 2012/33/EU. Danish waters are within a SOx-control area, and the sulphur limit is therefore 0.1%. The Danish Ministry of Environment is respon - sible for enforcing the rules concerning sulphur. The Ministry of Environment is responsible for the regulation of ships’ sulphur emissions, while the Danish Maritime Authority assists with the
practical control of ships flying the Danish flag and of foreign ships in Danish ports. One of the enforcement actions is the use of so- called sniffers, which is a technology installed on bridges, helicopters and drones that relies on the exhaust gases from ships. A sniffer can measure the amount of sulphur in a ship’s bunker oil with - out an actual sample from the bunker oil. In addition, the Danish Maritime Authority takes part in international negotiations and co-opera - tion on the implementation and enforcement of the regulations. From 2015 to 2020, a total of 36 shipping com - panies were reported to the police owing to sus - picion of violating the sulphur limitations. In 17 of these cases, the shipping companies have agreed to be fined summarily. Bech-Bruun has conducted and won the only (as far as is known) trial in Denmark concerning violation of the limitation of sulphur content in bunker fuel. The firm’s client was the defendant, a major shipping company, which was facing a fine of more than DKK200,000 and the possi - bility of the company’s name being published as an offender. This has authority in Danish law when the fine exceeds DKK200,000 and when the prosecution believes a shipping company has violated the sulphur limit. The client claimed to be innocent from the beginning and that the Danish Environmental Protection Agency had wrongfully sampled sul - phur tests from the lubrication oil instead of the bunker fuel filter. This firm managed to prove that the test had indeed been taken from the lubri- cation oil, thus raising reasonable doubt about the origin of the tests, and the court acquitted the client.
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