Red Diesel In Jerry Cans Unlawful?

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robbieg

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P 38 or Feb YM carries a small article implying carrying red diesel in cans will be unlawful shortly. So presumably:

1. If I ask the fuel dock to fill me a jerry can with red diesel to carry as a reserve they will refuse and if they do I will be breaking the law.
2. If in high wind rather than moving the boat to the fuel dock I wander round with a jerry can to bring back and top up the tanks it will no longer be possible.
3. If I need to drain my fuel tank, containing red diesel,I can no longer store the fuel in jerry cans.

Is this all general knowledge? Anyone point me in the direction of the law on this-seems totally bonkers but sadly that does not mean it can't be true....
 
This is a typical case of potential misinterpretation of the law.

As far as I can see, you can do what you like with red diesel as long as you don't run your car on it on the public highway.

If you have a few thousand gallons of red diesel on your central heating tank and the local pikeies keep nicking it (nudge nudge, know what I mean) then that's life.
 
Road Diesel

Fill your cans with road diesel .. Much kinder to the engine and heaters .. Also seems to contain less water and diesel bug .. Different if your a MOBO but you can still take a couple of cans with you and enjoy the look on the faces of officials when they find no red diesel ..
 
robbieg said:
P 38 or Feb YM carries a small article implying carrying red diesel in cans will be unlawful shortly. So presumably:

1. If I ask the fuel dock to fill me a jerry can with red diesel to carry as a reserve they will refuse and if they do I will be breaking the law.
2. If in high wind rather than moving the boat to the fuel dock I wander round with a jerry can to bring back and top up the tanks it will no longer be possible.
3. If I need to drain my fuel tank, containing red diesel,I can no longer store the fuel in jerry cans.

Is this all general knowledge? Anyone point me in the direction of the law on this-seems totally bonkers but sadly that does not mean it can't be true....
Click to expand...

The regulations are quite clear ( for once) . It is illegal to carry red diese lin cans on your boat. You have to take them to filling station and get road diesel. As far as I can see, there should be no problem with filling your jerrican with red at the marina, provided you decant it into the main tank and keep the receipt. With regard to draining and storing, unless you are captured on CCTV or someone shops you, it should be ok.
Enforcement levels vary. We understood that the Netherlands were especially tough and for our trip this year religiously kept our red diesel main tank receipts and ensured that the cans had "grey" diesel in them. Nobody challenged us, but we did talk to a couple of yachtsmen who said that they had been inspected. With all this and the E-Borders nonsense. it's all getting a bit silly and now that the price differential has been seriously eroded I would not care if red was dumped and this charade of percentages for heating and propulsion went as well. Road quality diesel is better for all but the most agricultural of marine engines anyway.
 
robbieg said:
P 38 or Feb YM carries a small article implying carrying red diesel in cans will be unlawful shortly. So presumably:

1. If I ask the fuel dock to fill me a jerry can with red diesel to carry as a reserve they will refuse and if they do I will be breaking the law.
2. If in high wind rather than moving the boat to the fuel dock I wander round with a jerry can to bring back and top up the tanks it will no longer be possible.
3. If I need to drain my fuel tank, containing red diesel,I can no longer store the fuel in jerry cans.

Is this all general knowledge? Anyone point me in the direction of the law on this-seems totally bonkers but sadly that does not mean it can't be true....
Click to expand...
I think this is to stop "boaters" buying red diesel from filling station pumps (rare but around) and decanting it into their main tanks sans tax.
In the South I tend to agree with Samrise, the hassle with red diesel is hardly worth the effort, you might as well use road fuel; but in the North of Scotland in many of the ports there are no garages and so red diesel is the only fuel available.
 
I was not aware of it being illegal in UK, could we have a definitive source please?
How does that work if you own a concrete mixer etc?

But it is certainly a no-no in France or french waters, to even have a reserve of red in cans, aboard a boat.
 
samwise said:
The regulations are quite clear ( for once) . It is illegal to carry red diese lin cans on your boat. You have to take them to filling station and get road diesel. As far as I can see, there should be no problem with filling your jerrican with red at the marina, provided you decant it into the main tank and keep the receipt. With regard to draining and storing, unless you are captured on CCTV or someone shops you, it should be ok.
Enforcement levels vary. We understood that the Netherlands were especially tough and for our trip this year religiously kept our red diesel main tank receipts and ensured that the cans had "grey" diesel in them. Nobody challenged us, but we did talk to a couple of yachtsmen who said that they had been inspected. With all this and the E-Borders nonsense. it's all getting a bit silly and now that the price differential has been seriously eroded I would not care if red was dumped and this charade of percentages for heating and propulsion went as well. Road quality diesel is better for all but the most agricultural of marine engines anyway.
Click to expand...
To which regulations are you referring. It is illegal in europe to have red in cans on your boat. Where does it say this applies in UK.
 
Last year, after my boatyard stopped selling Red diesel to yachtsmen(Still OK for commercial use) I went to a marina and filled 2x20l and 2x5l cans with red to fill my tank before winterising. No problem when I explained the reason, but did of course have to fill the requisite form.
 
I carry a can of red bought before the change over, I haven't had any need to use it yet!

Is that illegal in the UK or, for example, Holland or France.

I expect I would be hard put to find a receipt as it has probable been in the can 4 or 5 years.
 
I know of no law in the UK that specifies you cannot have Red diesel in a can - we carry 10L spare and it is filled with whatever is convenient ... they don't like it abroad though ..
 
robbieg said:
P 38 or Feb YM carries a small article implying carrying red diesel in cans will be unlawful shortly. So presumably:

1. If I ask the fuel dock to fill me a jerry can with red diesel to carry as a reserve they will refuse and if they do I will be breaking the law.
2. If in high wind rather than moving the boat to the fuel dock I wander round with a jerry can to bring back and top up the tanks it will no longer be possible.
3. If I need to drain my fuel tank, containing red diesel,I can no longer store the fuel in jerry cans.

Is this all general knowledge? Anyone point me in the direction of the law on this-seems totally bonkers but sadly that does not mean it can't be true....
Click to expand...

And driving at 31 mph in a 30 mph zone is an offence punishable by fine, and if cumulative previous penalties apply, loss of licence and livlihood etc etc.

It can happen, but we live our lives on probabalities not cast iron legal certainties. Carry on with your fuel practices, but keep your receipts and minimise provocation of law enforcement agencies - eg by not driving past a police officer at 40 in a 30. Clear?

PWG
 
exfinnsailor said:
Fill your cans with road diesel .. Much kinder to the engine and heaters .. Also seems to contain less water and diesel bug .. Different if your a MOBO but you can still take a couple of cans with you and enjoy the look on the faces of officials when they find no red diesel ..
Click to expand...
Road Diesel contains about 5% Bio fuel which has an affinity to water and so is worse in the marine enviroment as apparently more bugs will breed in the fuel/water barrier. There is a proposal that low sulpher ie. road Diesel will have to be used in marine vessels, and the bio content is due to go up to 7%. I'm sure that this will cause a lot of problems
 
davidej said:
I carry a can of red bought before the change over, I haven't had any need to use it yet!

Is that illegal in the UK or, for example, Holland or France.

I expect I would be hard put to find a receipt as it has probable been in the can 4 or 5 years.
Click to expand...
In uk no one is going to require you produce a receipt. In Holland or France a receipt will not help, it is illegal to have red in cans on boat. Receipt IS needed for red in main tanks thought. Penelty in Holland fro no receipt was 4.6 euros/litre of tank capacity, not amount in tanks.
 
Stork_III said:
In uk no one is going to require you produce a receipt. In Holland or France a receipt will not help, it is illegal to have red in cans on boat. Receipt IS needed for red in main tanks thought. Penelty in Holland fro no receipt was 4.6 euros/litre of tank capacity, not amount in tanks.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a good reason not to go to Holland. ;)
 
Problem with using white diesel is that most fuel barges don't sell it. I do often fill up with white if I am going down to the boat with the car since I don't use much when pottering about local waters and its easier than queuing at the local fuel dock. However when cruising for a period I often use my reserve jerry and to refill it I would ideally like not to have to lug a fuel can around the town, find a filling station, fill up with white and lug it back to the boat when there is a fuel dock selling red just down the pontoon! What a way to waste a couple of hours holiday!

Seems mad to me-another poorly thought out law which just inconviences ordinary citizens. It is tempting to ignore it but trouble is with MIB boarding how long before they take an interest in your spare jerry can?

Anyone have a reference for this new law?
 
robbieg said:
Problem with using white diesel is that most fuel barges don't sell it. I do often fill up with white if I am going down to the boat with the car since I don't use much when pottering about local waters and its easier than queuing at the local fuel dock. However when cruising for a period I often use my reserve jerry and to refill it I would ideally like not to have to lug a fuel can around the town, find a filling station, fill up with white and lug it back to the boat when there is a fuel dock selling red just down the pontoon! What a way to waste a couple of hours holiday!

Seems mad to me-another poorly thought out law which just inconviences ordinary citizens. It is tempting to ignore it but trouble is with MIB boarding how long before they take an interest in your spare jerry can?

Anyone have a reference for this new law?
Click to expand...

red in cans is perfectly legal in UK waters.
 
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