The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) reiterated its call for governments to address the serious implementation issues concerning the IMO Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention before it is too late. Speaking at a Ballast Water Management Summit in Singapore, ICS Vice Chairman, Esben Poulsson, encouraged IMO Member States to make use of the solutions proposed in an industry submission to the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), which next meets from 13-17 October. Mr Poulsson explained that the issues governments need to address include the lack of robustness of the current IMO type-approval process for the expensive new treatment equipment, the criteria to be used for sampling ballast water during Port State Control inspections and the need for 'grandfathering' of already fitted type-approved equipment. Thus far, however, governments have appeared reluctant to act collectively in a decisive manner. During his keynote speech, Mr Poulsson explained that this reluctance to resolve outstanding problems is causing a great deal of uncertainty: "When the BWM Convention eventually enters into force, the shipping industry will be required to invest billions of dollars to ensure compliance. However, because of the unanswered questions about the Convention's detailed implementation, much of the industry - and society at large - continues to lack...

A new online resource, developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge in collaboration with other organisations based in Cambridge, helps those in both the public and private sector see how changes to an ecosystem can affect its value, in order to make more informed decisions about how the natural environment should be developed. The Toolkit for Ecosystem Service Site-based Assessment (TESSA) was launched online this week to coincide with the 7th Annual Ecosystem Services Partnership Conference in Costa Rica, and allows users to make a direct comparison of the value that an ecosystem can provide to a community in different states, by providing access to state of the art information about their financial value. Ecosystems provide us with an extensive range of benefits for free, often described as 'ecosystem services'. These benefits include the provision of food and clean water, erosion control and carbon storage. A reduction or loss of these services can have severe economic, social and environmental impacts. However, methods for obtaining such data are frequently too expensive, or too technically demanding, to be of practical value. TESSA has been developed by a consortium of experts from six institutions, including staff at the Departments of Geography and Zoology. It...

The draft International Code of Safety for Ships using Gases or other Low flashpoint Fuels (IGF Code), along with proposed amendments to make the Code mandatory under SOLAS, were agreed by the inaugural session of the Sub-Committee on Carriage of Cargoes and Containers (CCC 1). The basic philosophy of the IGF Code is to provide mandatory provisions for the arrangement, installation, control and monitoring of machinery, equipment and systems using low flashpoint fuels, such as liquefied natural gas (LNG),  to minimize the risk to the ship, its crew and the environment, having regard to the nature of the fuels involved.The Code addresses all areas that need special consideration for the usage of low flashpoint fuels, based on a goal-based approach, with goals and functional requirements specified for each section forming the basis for the design, construction and operation of ships using this type of fuel. It was agreed that the new IGF Code should apply to new ships and to existing ships converting from the use of conventional oil fuel to the use of gases or other low-flashpoint fuels, on or after the date of entry into force of the Code. The IGF Code would not apply to cargo ships of...

The purpose of IACS guidance is to to assist ship operators in meeting the requirements of the ISM Code with respect to PSC, certification, training, SMS failures, shipboard maintence and others. 

ISM Code guidelines establish basic principles for verifying that the SMS of a Company responsible for the operation of ships or the SMS for the ship or ships controlled by the company complies with the ISM Code.

Industry stakeholders have discussed a lot about the pros and cons of paperless navigation concluding that ECDIS does have an edge over the traditional paper chart navigation. IMO, IHO IACS and Flag Administrations have issued guidance setting the baseline for ECDIS proper use.  Navigators are advised to consider the following guidance to be prepared and vigilant to monitor problems, assess hazards and consider control measures for the system in order to gain the benefits from electronic navigation