BIMCO’s Marine Committee said that it was very satisfied to see IMO adopt EEDI
At its recent meeting, BIMCO’s Marine Committee said that it was very satisfied to see IMO adopt EEDI technical and operational measures to reduce GHG emissions from ships.
“EEDI provides both opportunities and challenges for our industry”, said BIMCO Marine Committee chairman Philip Embiricos “….opportunities to build and operate more energy-efficient and cost-effective ships and challenges for ship designers and ship builders to excel their naval architectural and engineering skills focusing on efficiency improvements.”
BIMCO has evaluated the commercial implication of new ships built after 1st January 2013 being granted waivers from the flag state for compliance with the EEDI requirement.
As a result, a firm recommendation was made that due to the lifespan of ships and the significant uncertainties in respect of governments’ environmental agendas and how these may be applied, members should abstain from building new ships without certified EEDI compliance.
Such ships would be compromised in relation to their future secondhand value in the market, potentially restricted in their ability to trade worldwide and be less attractive in the charter market due to their perceived lower efficiency.
“BIMCO has a duty to provide the best possible information enabling our members to make the right decisions for their particular businesses”, said Embiricos.
“Our advice against waivers in no way bears a political signal. On the contrary, it is purely an acknowledgment of shipping being a global business and in line with BIMCO’s objectives to promote fair business practices, free trade and open access to markets,” he said.
The organisation has developed an easy-to-use calculator to assist its members calculating EEDI and plotting a vessel’s index against the relevant ship type specific regulatory limits imposed by MARPOL Annex VI.
It is the hope that the calculator will make EEDI performance of known ship designs more visible, as well as providing an easy way to assess changes in EEDI when design parameters are altered.
The calculator will be made available as soon as verification tests of the calculation results have been completed, BIMCO said.
Source: Tanker Operator
