The Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI) has announced that all of its members have signed a set of shared commitments to set a clear benchmark for sustainable practices.  These shared commitments also aim to create greater clarity and momentum on the minimum needed across the industry if we are to achieve its vision of a truly sustainable industry by 2040. By signing up to the commitments, each member agrees to: Publicly report on sustainability Have a sustainability strategy that links to its core business Set clear reduction targets for environmental issues that are most material to their activities (as per their impacts and an agreed list) Deliver a positive impact on people and society   These joint pledges set a baseline for sustainable practices throughout the SSI and will galvanise the individual efforts of participating companies.  They are designed to create real transparency and accountability amongst the membership, serving to drive performance improvement. Most importantly, by delivering against these shared commitments, sustainability will become a core element of business strategy as well as a key barometer for decision-making, driving innovation, as well as progressive and more profitable change. The shared commitments will also be used as a guideline for new members’...

Korean Register (KR) which is an IACS member classification society,  announces that it is to work alongside the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Secretariat (APEC) to promote the use of LNG fuelled ships in the APEC region. APEC has awarded a contract to KR to further the understanding of the current state and future potential for LNG fuelled vessels to serve the region’s maritime trade requirements. Work will also include a programme to share knowledge and best practice across the APEC region with the aim of promoting this new technology. At the 7th APEC Transportation Ministerial meeting held in 2011, the group confirmed their commitment to “an action agenda to move APEC towards an energy efficient, sustainable, low carbon transport future”. LNG fuelled shipping is believed to be one of the optimum potential solutions to help achieve this aim. KR is to lead the APEC funded project supported by Japanese and Canadian representatives within APEC’s Maritime Expert Group and Transport Working Group. The class society will undertake an extensive programme of research focusing on the current application of LNG technologies, associated safety aspects, seaborne trade statistics and best practice. Results will be shared with APEC member economies to help narrow the technology...

ClassNK has completed the EEDI appraisal of Harvest Frost, the world’s first post-panamax bulk carrier fitted with the Mitsubishi Air Lubrication System (MALS). The Harvest Frost was constructed by Oshima Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. for ADM Harvest Shipping in accordance to ClassNK rules and guidance. Developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries with support of ClassNK’s Joint R&D for Industry Program, MALS uses specialized blowers to create a layer of bubbles that flow along the bottom of a hull to improve fuel efficiency by reducing frictional resistance. While EEDI is calculated and evaluated primarily based on hull form, ship speed, and engine efficiency, the IMO has also established guidelines for including the effect of innovative new technologies, such as MALS, in the verification and calculation of a vessel’s EEDI. The appraisal and certification of the EEDI of the MALS-equipped Harvest Frost is understood to be the first time that the effect such an innovative technology has been evaluated part of a vessel’s EEDI. ClassNK has supported the development of EEDI regulations throughout the deliberation and enforcement stages at the IMO. ClassNK carried out the very first EEDI evaluations as part of the deliberation process at the IMO, and has carried out EEDI certifications for...

China is home to seven of the world's ten busiest container ports. About 26 percent of the world's containers pass through the top ten Chinese ports every year. Every ship and truck brings pollution along with its cargo, and China is paying a high price for pollution from shipping. In 2010 the country saw an estimated 1.2 million premature deaths caused by ambient air pollution. According to studies conducted in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, shipping is a significant source of these air pollution and health problems, particularly in port cities. Since Chinese port cities are among the most densely populated with the busiest ports in the world, air pollution from ships and port activities likely contributes to much higher public health risks than are found in other port regions.  Please click at table below to view the t op 20 container terminals and their throughput for 2013 (source: NRDC)    Health and Environmental Impacts of Shipping and Port Emissions Most ships at Chinese ports run on bunker fuel, also known as residual fuel. Almost all port vehicles and equipment are powered by diesel fuel. The exhaust from all of these engines contains high levels of diesel particulate matter (PM), oxides...

In late May, Drewry’s Container Insight Weekly highlighted the new low-sulphur fuel environment regulations that will come into force in January 2015 and some five months later a number of carriers have finally announced the related surcharges they will be requesting from shippers. In summary, from 1 January carriers will be obligated to use fuel with maximum 0.1% sulphur content, down from today’s allowed 1%, in so-called Emission Control Areas (ECAs) in North Europe and North America, see map below. Northern Europe’s and North America’s Emission Control Areas   Carriers have said that they will collect new “low-sulphur surcharges” or “emission control area charges” in addition to ocean freight. As predicted by Drewry, these new fuel charges vary by geography and by trade. They range from $30 per 40ft container (for Asia to/from North West Europe) to $280 per 40ft container (for Baltic region to/from Canada East Coast). For the high-volume, big-ship routes between Asia and both North West Europe and the US, the surcharges are low and represent only a marginal increase on current freight costs. However, for the transatlantic tradelane, the low-sulphur surcharges of at least $120 per 40ft represent an extra cost of some 6% to 12% on...

Working Group II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has launched the full version of its contribution to the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. This definitive assessment is the result of years of intensive work by leading experts in the field, including PML's Dr Carol Turley. It provides the most comprehensive look to date at the widespread impacts and risks of climate change and the opportunities for response. The full version of the Working Group II report includes a Summary for Policymakers, a Technical Summary, 30 assessment chapters, cross-chapter boxes, frequently asked questions, and high-resolution graphics. PML's Dr Carol Turley was a Review Editor on the report for Chapter 30, 'The Ocean'. Dr Turley commented 'I am pleased that after the tremendous efforts of all those involved, the full version of the contribution of Working Group II has been released. This is a crucial step forward in recognising that the ocean is under considerable stress from warming, acidification and deoxygenation, which have potentially serious consequences for marine ecosystems and the goods and services they provide for humanity.' The report characterizes what is known and what is not known about impacts of climate changes that have already occurred and risks of...

Nearly five years after the Deepwater Horizon explosion led to the release of roughly 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, scientists are still working to answer the question: Where did all the oil go? During the 2010 crisis, some of the oil gushing from the seafloor appeared as slicks on the sea surface, while roughly half of it, scientists estimate, remained trapped in deep ocean plumes of mixed oil and gas, one of which was more than a mile wide, hundreds of feet high and extended for miles southwest of the broken riser pipe at the damaged Macondo well. Many natural processes—like evaporation and biodegradation—and human actions—like the use of dispersants and flaring of gas at the surface—impacted the chemical makeup and fate of the oil, adding to the complexity of accounting for it.  A paper published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences provides a piece of the puzzle, analyzing the oil that ended up on the seafloor, establishing its footprint, rough quantity and likely deposition mechanism, and pegging its source to that deep ocean plume of mixed oil and gas. “In 2010, we only considered that material flowing from the well...

Following the closing of the Northeastern Passage of the Northern Sea Route (NSR) on October 1st, the Global Ice Center at Weathernews Inc. looks back at the opening period this year. Ice in the Arctic Sea continues on a trend of recession since the turn of the century. For the fifth year in a row, Russia’s Northeastern passage fully opened from late August, staying open for six-weeks. This summer saw a record number of applications for permission to sail the NSR. Meanwhile, ice remaining in the Canadian archipelago prevented the Northwestern passage from becoming transitable for the first time in five years.                Number of days the NSR has stayed fully open over the past five years Northeastern Passage Open for Fifth Consecutive Year While Northwestern Passage Remains Closed The lowest area of ice observed by the Global Ice Center (GIC) at Weathernews this summer was 4.8 million km2, which is the sixth smallest area in recorded history. (fig. 1) Different trends can be seen when comparing the Northeastern and Northwestern passages in the summer of 2014. Ice in the Northeastern passage began to melt from late May, opening fully from August 21st to October...

On 26th October, 2014, Hantong Ship Heavy Industry signed shipbuilding contract with CIMC ENRIC SJZ GAS for building the world’s first CNG carrier which will be operated by Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PT PLN), Indonesian National Electric Company, to beused for natural gas transportation between the islands of Indonesia.  The vesselis designed by CIMC ORIC, using natural gas as power, driven by dual fuel main engine, with110-meterlength over all and 14-knots design speed. It willbe designed and constructed under theclassification society American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and PT. Biro Klasifikasi Indonesia (Persero)(BKI). It is expected to deliver in May 2016. Source and Image Credit : Hantong Ship Heavy IndustryIn the onset, I was explicit with you propecia before and after has changed my existence. It has become much more fun, and now I have to run. Just as it is incredible to sit.