As far as we know, the on-board inspection of the SPRO agreement will be carried out at random by local MSAs, in conjunction with other inspections. Since a SPRO agreement is required in most Chinese ports, it is strongly recommended that owners inquire in advance with a local agent or ourselves and sign the SPRO agreement on time. A copy of the signed agreement should be made available to the vessel for local registration and inspection by MSA, in order to avoid delays and penalties. If the owners have no choice but to authorize the Master to sign an SPRO agreement to allow the port to depart, Masters should ensure that they receive English translations to ensure that they clearly understand the agreed terms. Otherwise, owners and operators may inadvertently enter into SPRO agreements for higher levels of service and/or longer periods above the current rate. This office contacts a number of SPROSs to set current rates, pending the need for owners/operators to negotiate short-term agreements if their bargaining power is limited. If one or more of the requirements set out in points 2, 3 or 5 are not met by SPROS, members should make the best efforts to negotiate with the SPRO to obtain their consent to meet these requirements or seek another SPROS ready to meet all of these requirements. Of course, since 2012, it is essential that some ships enter prior contracts with a ship pollution response organization (or « SPRO ») before entering Chinese ports. The International Group has published several standard documents to help members achieve this, including a recommended text of the SPRO agreement. The MSA has approved more than 100 SPROs (as of January 6, 2012).

In addition, the MSA also authorized 7 SPRO consortia that demonstrated that they had the necessary arrangements with other SPROSs to provide response services at several ports. If owners and operators expect to call regularly at different Chinese ports, awarding contracts with one of these consortia may be the most effective agreement, instead of concluding many SPRO agreements for each port. Huatai recently warned that ships arriving at a Chinese port without a valid SPRO agreement could impose a fine of between RMB10,000 and RMB50,000 and that local MSA offices would conduct survey checks to verify that incoming vessels are compliant.