The IMO Committee on Protection of the Marine Environment (MEPC) held its 67th Session from Monday 13 through Friday 17 October 2014 in IMO Headquarters in London.
Among the many issues discussed by the Committee, developments on the air pollution were on the agenda. IMO MEPC 67 concluded the following:
Air Pollution from ships
Impact on the Arctic of emissions of Black Carbon from International shipping
It was felt premature for the Committee to single out a particular contender for an agreed definition of Black Carbon thus the matter will be sent back to PPR at its second (next) session with a view to them making a clear and definitive recommendation.
Fuel Oil Quality
The Committee noted the outcome of MSC 93’s consideration of fuel oil quality and its possible impact on crew health, ship safety and environmental protection. Proposals were invited to MSC94, for consideration in conjunction with the outcome of MEPC 67, urging Member Governments, in the meantime, to strengthen their oversight capacity of bunker fuel suppliers. In the ensuing discussion, the majority of Member States expressed a view supporting the development of non-mandatory guidance whilst a significant minority of Member States supported mandatory measures. (Of note, had the NGO vote been permitted to count, the latter minority would have been a clear majority.) The Committee instructed WG2 to prepare draft TORs for a CG to develop draft guidance in assuring the quality of fuel oil supplied for use on board ships and to consider the adequacy of the current regulatory framework for fuel oil quality, taking into account MSC 94’s deliberations. The lack of trust between the ship owner and fuel oil supplier was acknowledged as was also the fact that all liability rests with the ship owner i.e. the end user, which is certainly not the case with other fuel oil supply chains.
CG on EEDI review required under regulation 21.6 of MARPOL Annex VI
A CG under the coordination of JAPAN was established to review the status of technological developments relevant to implementing phase 2 of EEDI regulation. A progress report will be provided to MEPC 68 and an interim report to MEPC 69.
Report of t he Air Pollution and Energy Efficiency Group
The Committee approved WG2’s report in general and, in particular:
- approved a draft MEPC circular on Guidance to the supplement to the IAPP Certificate;
- noted IACS Unified Interpretation (UI) on Application of surveys / inspections for marine diesel engines related to regulations 1 and 5.2 of MARPOL Annex VI;
- approved the draft new UIs of MARPOL Annex VI related to ‘application for bunker delivery note’;
- noted the groups discussion on the Guidelines for calculating EEDI for new ships related to those equipped with dual-fuel engines;
- adopted a draft MEPC resolution on the 2014 Guidelines on survey and certification of EEDI;
- noted the discussion on amendments to the 2013 Interim Guidelines for determining minimum propulsion power to maintain the manoeuvrability of ships in adverse conditions and in addition, adopted a draft MEPC resolution regarding same.
Development of a data collection system for fuel consumption of ships
It was recalled that MEPC 66 established a CG on ‘Further Technical and Operational Measures for Enhancing Energy Efficiency of International Shipping’ and had instructed it to consider the development of a data collection system for fuel consumption of ships, including identification of the core element of such a system. There followed an extremely lengthy and somewhat heated discussion on issues such as :
(1) what the data could be used for;
(2) the purpose and use of the data to be collected;
(3) voluntary or mandatory?;
(4) whether a need exists for an operational energy efficiency standard;
(5) would (4) limit speed or fuel consumption?; and
(6) the implementation issues for data collection such as data confidentiality, change of flag State and / or ship owner, also the reporting period.
From all this, a clear agreement emerged, in principle, to develop a data collection system focusing on fuel consumption only. WG3’s recommendation to re-establish the inter-sessional CG coordinated by Mr Chrysostomou (CYPRUS) was endorsed and a written report will be submitted to MEPC 68.
Reduction of GHG emissions from ships
The Committee approved the ‘Third IMO GHG Study 2014’. The majority of delegations that spoke supported the report and its findings which provide a sound basis for the future work of the Committee to address GHG emissions from international shipping. Reservations were, however, expressed by CHINA, INDIA and the Russian Federation regarding methods, calculations and data employed, also purporting that some of the comments made in the report were not supported by scientific evidence. However, the IMO Secretary General emphasised that much had been achieved in the very short period of time since the Committee had requested the Study and that in the future, there may be a need to re-evaluate the status of GHG emissions, taking account of EEDI application and other industry measures.
Source: InterManager
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