Belgium: marine diesel

Gwylan said:
In my long and happy experience there most of their time is spent finding ways around regulations!
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A Belgian friend explained to me that the reason they have so many rules & regs is so that they can choose which ones to ignore, & which to follow.
 
OK it seems that most of you believe I am wrong, well time will tell.
It may be that its worse inland rather than on the coast, another DBA member was warned last week.

As for using white, we all will be using it soon as Belgium has pointed out to the EU that the fact we are using fiscally marked diesel is illegal under EU laws and we should change.

I do feel that there is a head in the sand attitude to this, I hope for your sakes that I am wrong and that there are no more cases.
If I go there I will follow the DBA advice and have white in my propulsion tank as I am not prepared to take the chance or pay the fine.
 
I understood the main reason for only having red diesel available was that many fuel berths sell to both private and commercial users. They would therefore need to double up on the facilities including new tanks. In addition, we can not put white in our tanks if the boat is in a marina as we have all agreed to not fill tanks except at a fuel berth and we can only get white diesel in cans from a garage. If the RYA is correct, then surely the Belgian position is state sponsored piracy by illegally demanding money, presumably with menaces. Are the officials on commission?
 
Cervinia said:
OK it seems that most of you believe I am wrong, well time will tell.
It may be that its worse inland rather than on the coast, another DBA member was warned last week.
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I found the following communication from my club in the inbox;

Around 10/5/11, a Westerly Konsort Duo was fined euro 750 offshore Belgium for having red diesel in their tank in spite of having a tax receipt. This was in territorial waters, not in harbour.
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The RYA has issued warnings about the risks of using road diesel in marine engines due to the bio-fuel content so swapping to white fuel is not without problems.
 
aquaholic said:
Well I am off in a couple of weeks so will take my chances, have all the reciepts and have printed off this letter from the RYA to take with me.

http://www.rya.org.uk/SiteCollectio...ating Abroad/EUCommLetterandTrans30Sept08.pdf

Its also in Dutch, German and French
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It looks as though there is a battle developing between Belgium customs and HM Government with yachties caught in the middle.

http://www.rya.org.uk/cruising/curr...gianauthorities’actionsinfiningUKboaters.aspx

If your luck is out no amount of paperwork is going to save you from a large fine. Personally I'm staying away until the situation is resolved.
 
jtwebb said:
I understood the main reason for only having red diesel available was that many fuel berths sell to both private and commercial users. They would therefore need to double up on the facilities including new tanks. In addition, we can not put white in our tanks if the boat is in a marina as we have all agreed to not fill tanks except at a fuel berth and we can only get white diesel in cans from a garage. If the RYA is correct, then surely the Belgian position is state sponsored piracy by illegally demanding money, presumably with menaces. Are the officials on commission?
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I understood it was for safety reasons in the North of Scotland in particular. In the more remote areas the only supplies of diesel are red for the fishing-often the nearest garages are 20-30 miles away! When I sailed in the far North I found this to be so. No marinas, no pumps. Trying to fill a small tank from a bowser meant for trawlers was messy to say the least!
The answer is surely to change to white, but give credit to bona fide commercial users. I suspect HMRC deduced that there would be more fiddling that way round in that cars, vans etc. would be run on the tax credit for fishermen than yachtsmen putting red diesel in their cars!
The 60/40 split is irrelevant to the argument-it's the colour that's the problem
 
PeterR said:
It looks as though there is a battle developing between Belgium customs and HM Government with yachties caught in the middle.

http://www.rya.org.uk/cruising/curr...gianauthorities’actionsinfiningUKboaters.aspx

If your luck is out no amount of paperwork is going to save you from a large fine. Personally I'm staying away until the situation is resolved.
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Thats fine if you have no particular plans to go there but I have been looking forward to this trip for nearly a year now and wont let this eurocratic nonsense spoil it, so I think it only wise to take what ever supporting evidence I can.
 
Sorry to ressurect an old thread, but I can provide an update to this topic.

When in Oostende (NSYC) a couple of weeks ago I witnessed the Belgian customs singling out British boats - with unfortunately mine seeming to be the only one with anyone on board. They looked at all the normal papers and asked whether I had any red diesel on board, which I had in the main tank only, and asked what the tank capacity was. I was told red diesel is a problem even if it is bought tax paid in the UK ( I had the receipts) and I could be fined 500 euros. I am reasonably convinced that if Robert had not already arrived on the pontoon said something to them (which was plainly nothing like a simple exchange of pleasantries) a fine would have ensued.

As regards the yacht referrred to as having been fined in May (not the barge inland), by coincidence I happened to meet the people concerned 2 days later in Dunkerque and this is a genuine case not an urban myth. They were passing close by Oostende and were boarded and fined 750 euros.

This contrasts with the Dutch customs who we found to be happy provided we had receipts, and consider the Belgians stance unreasonable.

Regardless of the rights and wrongs, I think we all have to be aware there are real risks of being fined when sailing in Belgium waters with red diesel on board.
 
Instead of pontificating

why not do somethingf typically Eurpoean and votre with our keels....simply don't go to Belgium, it's not that appealing anyway!
 
We avoided Oostende this Summer and landed at Blankenberge. We were visited by the customs douane prior to departure some three weeks after. As I stated no ref was made to red diesel and they did not want to see any fuel receipts.
It may be that as there is a fuel station at Blankenberge they are slightly more relaxed than Oostende.
I had red diesel in the tank and 20 litres of good old Ipswich tesco White in cans.
They were more interested in registry and docs relating to the vessel including qualifications and type of dsc radio etc.
A very pleasant officer who was keen to get on with his job and not invade my space for any longer than was necessary.
 
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