Fuel Supplies 

There is confusion amongst boat owners about what diesel they can buy and use for pleasure craft propulsion and whether such fuel will cause damage to the boat’s engine installation or increase the danger of microbiological contamination or ‘diesel bug’.

What does the current legislation say in respect of pleasure craft?

The EU Fuel Quality Directive was implemented in the UK on the 14 January 2011. This introduced the requirement for inland waterways vessels and recreational craft that do not normally operate at sea to be supplied with low sulphur fuel.

There is however nothing in this new legislation that compels a supplier to add bio-diesel (FAME) to fuel that is being supplied for use by pleasure craft no matter where it is used. Under the UK Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), it is only obligatory to add bio diesel to diesel supplied for use in road vehicles.

The Government is currently consulting on the EU Renewable Energy Directive and how it will be implemented in UK law. The Government’s preferred option is to expand the RTFO to include all fuels, including fuel supplied for use in inland waterway vessels and recreational craft that do not normally operate at sea.

This again has the potential to affect fuel supplied to pleasure craft; however the RYA has secured assurances from the Department for Transport that although all fuel supplied will count towards the RTFO target, the legislation will not mean that bio-diesel must be added to every drop of fuel. Fuel distributors will have obligations to meet, but how they meet these obligations will be up to them. They will remain free to add more bio-diesel to some supplies and none to others; it will therefore still be possible to ask for diesel without any bio-diesel content.

What about red diesel?

In the UK fuel is chemically marked and dyed red to indicate that it has been supplied for non-road mobile machinery use, as in many cases such fuel is supplied at a rebated rate of duty.

Pleasure craft can still legitimately buy marked (red) diesel in the UK as long as the correct duty is paid on the element of the fuel to be used for propulsion.

The fact that this fuel is marked does not indicate the type of the fuel. Fuel known as red diesel may or may not be low sulphur fuel, dependant on its type and it may or may not contain a percentage of FAME (bio diesel).  

What’s available?

The following table indicates which fuels you can legitimately purchase depending on whether you are boating in categorised waters (inland) or going to sea.

The red diesel you buy could be any one of the fuels listed:

	Type of Fuel	Often  referred to as	Bio content	Available to vessels which go to sea	Available to vessels which remain in categorised waters
ISO 8217:2010	This is the specified standard for marine fuels which meets certain other stringent international requirements; it permits a maximum limit of 1,000 mg/kg sulphur and prohibits the use of Biodiesel	Marine diesel or Red diesel	None permitted	Yes	No - they may only use low sulphur fuel
				The UK Regulations that transpose the EU Fuel Quality Directive apply to the supply of fuel and do not apply to craft that normally, 'operate at sea'; the UK regulations allow marinas and other fuel retailers in tidal category C and D waters to stock and sell ISO 8217 Category DMA gas oil to recreational craft that normally operate at sea.
BS EN 2869:2010 Class A2	Gas oil for non-road use, including recreational craft that do not normally operate at sea and inland waterways vessels. This standard now specifies a maximum limit of 10 mg/kg sulphur but also permits the addition of up to 7% Biodiesel by volume (without it having to be labelled as such).	Gas oil or Red diesel or Low sulphur diesel	Up to 7% is permitted but not mandatory	Yes	Yes
				It is perfectly lawful for suppliers to provide this without the addition of Biodiesel for Non Road use and a number of suppliers have stated that they will make sulphur-free biodiesel-free gas oil available
BS EN 590	Low sulphur diesel which contains up to 7% FAME Biodiesel has to be added as part of the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation Order 2007.	Road Diesel	Minimum of 4.25% for 2011/2012 is mandatory.  This will rise to 4.7% when the RED is implemented	Yes	Yes

Further technical information is available see page 5 of the RYA Fuel Quality Directive infomation leaflet.

What should I buy?

It is the responsibility of the supply chain to ensure that fuel complies with the legislation depending on where it is sold. It is therefore important that every link in the supply chain knows what is being bought and sold. The best solution is to use fuel that is free from bio-diesel (“FAME-free”).

During and since the negotiations with DfT, the RYA has pressed the safety case and risks associated with bio-diesel and contamination. In response, the DfT and many fuel refiners, blenders and distributors have made a supply of BS2869:2010 fuel that is FAME-free available.

• Ask what you are being supplied with. Boat owners are encouraged to ask their supplier what standard of fuel they are supplying and whether or not the specific fuel supplied contains bio-diesel.

• Ask for FAME free fuel. If your Marina has a fuel point, make sure the operator is supplying FAME free fuel. Where a supplier either will not or cannot provide FAME free fuel, consider buying fuel elsewhere.

What should I do if I think I am using Fuel with Bio-diesel in it?

It remains perfectly possible that you may be supplied with BS EN 2869:2010 or BS EN 590 fuels containing a percentage of bio-diesel. If you think this is the case, you should be aware of the potential risks associated with bio-diesel. These can broadly be classified as operating and storage risks.

Conclusion

The key is to know what you are being supplied and the solution, to find a fuel source you are happy with. If your usual supplier will not provide fuel which is free from bio-diesel you have the option to buy your fuel elsewhere.

Still have more questions?

Contact cruising@rya.org.uk or 0844 556 9517.