“Draft Interim Guidelines for the Safety of Ships Using LPG Fuels” that were finalised at a recent IMO meeting do not provide detailed guidance on bunkering operations.
According to IBIA, details relating to bunkering operations that were part of earlier drafts were excluded from the final version during discussion at the 8th session of IMO’s Sub-Committee on Carriage of Cargoes and Containers (CCC 8).
As the association says, the CCC 8 working group (WG) discussed the draft interim guidelines for LPG in the WG, with the initial draft containing useful details regarding what’s required to ensure safety during LPG bunkering operations.
However, these were not included in the final draft which will be sent to the 107th meeting of the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC 107) for approval, expected in June 2023.
There is a short chapter on bunkering in the interim guidelines for LPG, but these provide only a few general comments to provide for suitable systems on board the ship to ensure that bunkering can be conducted without causing danger to persons, the environment or the ship, with very little detail
In addition, IBIA notes that the LPG interim guidelines have been closely aligned with the structure of the International Code of Safety for Ships Using Gases or Other Low-Flashpoint Fuels (IGF Code). Many parts of it refers to specific parts of the IGF Code rather than providing details.
The same principle is being followed for other alternative fuels which CCC is working on developing interim guidelines for, recognising that they are different from LNG, which is the primary type of fuel that the IGF Code was developed for.
Following discussion in the WG at CCC 8 about not including details related to bunkering operations in the draft, it was decided instead to “invite interested Member States and international organizations to develop guidance for LPG bunkering to assist crews, bunker suppliers and ports in delivering LPG fuel to ships.”
