Summary: China's revised ship pollution regulation takes effect on November 1, 2026, and it puts ship materials and blasting waste under the same inspection umbrella. Mali Steel Shot breaks down the three clauses that reach a blast shop floor, and the four checks that keep a yard compliant without slowing output.

Shipyards in China get a new rulebook on Saturday. The Ministry of Transport's Order No. 17 of 2026, a full revision of the regulation on preventing pollution from ships and related operations, runs to seven chapters and 65 articles and takes effect on November 1. Most of it concerns fuel supply, ballast water and tank cleaning. Three clauses, however, land directly on the abrasive side of a shipyard.

Clause one: the word "material" is now in the inspection scope

The old text required a ship's structure, equipment and anti-pollution devices to hold certificates. The revised article 4 adds ship materials and requires them to pass inspection.

In practice this pulls coating systems and surface preparation into the same compliance conversation. A hull that fails an adhesion test after delivery is a materials question, and adhesion starts at Sa 2.5 with the right anchor profile.

Clause two: waste and sediment are now named emissions

The regulation adds "waste" and "sediment" to the list of discharge objects, and renames the old emission control area as the ship pollutant emission control area.

For a blast shop, that means spent abrasive fines swept off the floor, sludge dug out of the settling pit and dusty wash-down water are no longer housekeeping issues. They are recorded waste streams. Weight in, weight out, and a receiving party on paper.

Clause three: tank cleaning moves away from populated water

Cleaning, gas-freeing and replacement operations must now take place away from populated areas, busy navigation channels and military water areas. Cargo tank cleaning on tankers above 30,000 deadweight tonnes is treated as high-risk work with dedicated controls.

This does not change blasting, but it changes yard scheduling. When tank work is pushed to outer berths, the plate and block work inside the dock compresses into fewer windows — and that is where abrasive consumption spikes.

Why the timing matters: shipbuilding is the one segment still expanding

China's official manufacturing PMI for October came in at 49.3 on October 31, down 0.8 points from September. Production fell to 49.8 and new orders to 49.4, both below the 50 mark.

The split by industry is what matters here. Railway, shipbuilding and aerospace equipment recorded both production and new orders above 53.0. Equipment manufacturing sat at 50.6 and high-tech manufacturing at 51.3, while consumer goods dropped to 48.8 and energy-intensive industries to 47.3.

Plate got cheaper at the same time. On October 30, 20mm plate across 24 major cities averaged 3,440 yuan per tonne, down 10 yuan; hot-rolled coil averaged 3,220 yuan, down 9; rebar averaged 3,305 yuan, down 4; and Tangshan billet ex-works fell to 2,890 yuan including tax, below the 2,900 line.

Cheaper plate plus a full order book means more blasting, not less. The rule tightens in the same week the work gets heavier.

Check one: fines ratio, not dust complaints

Most shops judge dust by how the floor looks. Measure it instead. Hold a clean white tray under the separator return for 30 seconds and weigh the fines against the total.

Above 5 percent fines means either the media is breaking down early or the separator air setting is wrong. Below 2 percent usually means air volume is too low and dust is escaping into the hall. Between 2 and 5 percent is the working range.

Mali steel shot is produced to Q/HX 001-2026: non-spherical particles at or below 5 percent, sulphur and phosphorus at or below 0.03 percent, density at or above 7.4 g/cm³, and a cycle life of at least 2,200 passes. In shop terms that is 15 to 20 kg less fines per tonne of media, and a dust collector inlet that holds near 2 g/m³ instead of climbing past 5.

Check two: settling pit records

Shot settles fast at 7.4 g/cm³ and up, so pit sludge stays low. Angular steel grit cuts faster but wears into fines, and pit volume runs roughly 30 percent higher than with shot alone.

Dig the pit weekly, weigh each load, and log the receiving party. A month of records should reconcile against media purchased. That single sheet answers most inspection questions before they are asked.

Check three: mix by operation, not by habit

Running one media through the whole hull is the most common shortcut and the most expensive one. Thick rust and old paint need cutting action; a finished surface needs a uniform profile.

Use angular grit G18 to G25 on heavy corrosion, then switch to steel shot S330 to S460 for secondary blasting and surface consolidation. A 20 to 30 percent grit blend is the usual starting point. Blast a 300 by 300 mm test plate, measure the profile at three points, and set the blend from those numbers rather than from the previous job.

Sa 2.5 remains the floor. Anchor profile between 40 and 75 microns is the working window for most marine coating systems.

Check four: batch consistency beats price per tonne

When schedules compress, buyers chase the lowest quote. The cost shows up two months later as variable consumption, blocked feed lines and rework.

Ask for the test report with each batch — non-spherical particle ratio, hardness deviation, density, sulphur and phosphorus. Mali Steel Shot ships every batch with its own report from a plant that has supplied metallic abrasives for 25 years, and holds stock in 28 warehouses across China for delivery within 72 hours on standard grades.

FAQ

Q: Does the new rule require shipyards to change blasting parameters?

A: No. Sa 2.5 and the 40 to 75 micron profile window are unchanged. What changes is record keeping: spent fines, pit sludge and wash-down water need documented weight and destination. Older dust collection systems will simply be examined more closely.

Q: How do we tell whether high abrasive consumption is a media problem or a machine problem?

A: Test a fresh bag first. If fines in new media exceed 5 percent, it is the media. If new media is clean but breaks down within a week, check separator air volume and wheel speed — a misadjusted separator can cut cycle life by 300 to 500 passes.

Q: What grit-to-shot ratio works for hull blasting?

A: Start at 20 to 30 percent angular grit with the balance steel shot. Pushing grit past 40 percent deepens the profile beyond 75 microns, raises paint consumption and risks edge cutting. Verify on a test plate at three measured points.

Q: How much media does a shipyard actually consume?

A: Industry reference for dock blasting is 5 to 10 kg per square metre of make-up media, depending on corrosion grade and recovery efficiency. Shops with well-tuned separators and recovery systems sit at the lower end.

Mali Steel Shot (Wuhan Hongxin Lixin Metal Products), 25 years in metallic abrasives: alloy steel shot S230 to S780, stainless steel shot from 0.3 to 2.5 mm, high-carbon and high-manganese cut wire shot, and angular steel grit G12 to G120. Website http://www.sisball.com/ , hotline 400-038-8928.