In 2018, once again new regulations took place in order the maritime industry to stay on the pulse and remain sustainable. Namely, the latest regulatory impacting the industry within the year include the following updates:
Read in this series
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- Year in Review: Top shipping stories to remember from 2018
- Year in Review: Environmental issues that caught shipping’s eye in 2018
- Year in Review: Timeline of smart shipping developments in 2018
- 2018 Highlights: Major cyber attacks reported in maritime industry
- Year in Review: Top priorities of the 2018 Regulatory Agenda
- A year in pictures: Shipping industry’s highlights in 2018
- Top shipping books we read in 2018
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- IMO published changes to IMDG Code, incorporating the Amendment 39-18 which came into force on 1 January 2020 for two years and may be applied voluntarily as from 1 January 2019.
- ISO updated the international guidelines for the effectiveness of sea anchors for rescue boats in the ‘ISO 17339:2018, Ships and marine technology – Life saving and fire protection – Sea anchors for survival craft and rescue boats.’
- A new requirement for the carriage of two-way portable radiotelephone apparatus of explosion proof or intrinsically safe type for firefighter’s communication is effective from July 1st, 2018 under SOLAS regulation II-2/10.10.4
- Amendments to the STCW Convention and the STCW Code set a new requirement for training and emergency familiarization of crewmembers on passenger ships, effective from 1st of July 2018.
- INTERCARGO proposed to IMO that Ammonium Nitrate Based Fertilizer, in some cases, should not be treated as group C in the IMSBC Code.
- On 12 March 2018, ISO 45001:2018 was published, a new international standard concerning the management of occupational health and safety, which take a top-down approach to the management of safety risks, replacing OHSAS 18001
- On 15 October, the European Parliament’s Committee on Transport and Tourism published the draft report on the Commission’s proposal for a Regulation creating a European Maritime Single Window environment.
- The US House of Representatives approved the legislation to address maritime transportation safety issues raised by the El Faro sinking, promote the US Coast Guard’s awareness of technologies that could help improve Service mission performance, and reduce marine debris.
- A US bill in September introduced the ‘Human Trafficking and IUU Fishing Act’, in response to the growing prevalence of human rights abuses in seafood supply chain.
- US BSEE relaxed safety rules for offshore drilling industry enacted after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, in a bid to ease ‘unnecessary burden on operators’
- The President of Philippines issued an executive order (EO), strengthening compliance with STCW Convention.
- From May 25th, all organizations in the EU, as well as those that deal with data related to EU residents, comply with new data privacy laws, the EU GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).
- As the amount of plastic litter in oceans is growing ever greater, the European Commission proposed new EU-wide rules to target the 10 single-use plastic products most often found on Europe’s beaches and seas, as well as lost and abandoned fishing gear
- In April 2018, IMO MEPC 72 adopted amendments to the IBC Code and BCH Code due to enter into force on January 1st of 2020. Namely, the amendments concern the International Certificate of Fitness and the Certificate of Fitness for the Carriage of Dangerous Chemicals in Bulk.
- In 2018Q3, IACS published 12 recommendations on cyber safety, in order to enable the delivery of cyber resilient ships whose resilience can be maintained throughout their working lives.
- Six months ahead of the EU Ship Recycling Regulation, which enters into force from 31st of December 2018, ECSA noted that the current edition of the EU list of approved ship recycling facilities only features yards situated in Europe and has a capacity of around 300.000 LDT, which is far away from the 2.5 million LDT mentioned in the Regulation.
- The Transport Committee of the European Parliament adopted the Meissner report on the Port Reception Facilities and gave a mandate to the Rapporteur to start negotiations with the Council to finalise the text of the new law. ESPO welcomed particularly the proposal to strengthen the ‘polluter pays’ principle.
- In October, the European Commission approved the extension of the current Danish tonnage tax scheme to additional types of vessels. This aims to encourage ship registration in Europe and contribute to the global competitiveness of the sector without distorting competition.
- US EPA delayed the release of its new Vessel General Permit (VGP 3.0), which is now expected to be made available in March 2019
- Responding to the increasing number of navigational incidents, accidents and near-misses in recent years, especially in the Chittagong outer anchorage, due to rising maritime traffic in the area, the local authority established new regulations and recommendations which are in effect from October 1, 2018.
- China implemented earlier the 0,5% sulphur limit in Yangtze ECA. As of 1 October 2018, ships operating in China’s Yangtze River Delta domestic ECA can no longer use fuel with a sulphur content exceeding 0.5%, unless a scrubber is installed, Gard Club said citing information by Chinese regional authorities of Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu Provinces.
- US introduced “Stop Sexual Assault and Harassment in Transportation Act,” legislation requiring passenger vessels, and other transportation companies, to prescribe formal policies on sexual harassment of employees and passengers in transportation.
- New legislation was released for review aiming to reduce emissions and discharges in the fjords. Namely, the Norwegian Maritime Authority proposed even stricter regulations to ensure a better environmental footprint in the area, by cutting emissions.
- On December 4, 2018, US President Trump signed the USCG Authorization Act, S. 140, a new bill which includes measures for USCG operations while incorporates the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act. What is more, this bill has wide implications on upcoming US EPA VGP.
- 31st December 2018 marks the SEEMP Part II deadline under MARPOL Annex VI, Regulation 22.2
- Hong Kong published the Air Pollution Control (Fuel for Vessels) Regulation, which requires all vessels to use compliant fuel within the waters of Hong Kong to reduce their emissions and improve air quality. If approved by the Council, the Regulation will take effect on 1 January 2019.
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