The International Bunker Industry Association released an announcement, stating that last week there have been a number of misleading headlines and articles incorrectly attributing certain views, statements and advice to IBIA.
Regarding the 2020 global sulphur cap, IBIA mentions the it urges its membership and all industry stakeholders to comply, in order to protect the regulation’s intended benefits.
A number of industry professionals, including IBIA members, have presented their views regarding the level of compliance they expect in 2020 in public fora. These are individual or company views and should not be confused with an official IBIA view, the association said.
Continuing, it is said that, IBIA’s view on 2020 compliance is that we should be careful about being both too pessimistic and too optimistic.
There are legitimate concerns about compliance and effective enforcement, but there are also legitimate reasons to expect a high level of compliance.
IBIA makes efforts to put global shipping on track to comply with the 0.50% sulphur limit at the IMO when the Sub-Committee on Pollution Prevention and Response (PPR) meets in February next year.
As IBIA reported last month, among the issues to be discussed at PPR is a proposed ban on the carriage of bunker fuel exceeding the global limit on ships without approved abatement technology.
A poll conducted at IBIA’s Annual Convention in Singapore last month, showed that 38% of those who voted said they think we need such a carriage ban as soon as possible, 55% thought there should be a ban but not until good availability of compliant fuels is evident, while only 7% voted against high sulphur bunker fuel carriage ban.
“When it comes to abatement technology, specifically exhaust gas cleaning systems (EGCS) or scrubbers, IBIA cannot offer investment advice and does not offer a specific opinion as to which options any particular shipowner or shipowners in general should follow. IBIA is not in the business of providing forecasts or giving investment advice, but there is a wealth of knowledge and varying opinions within our membership on many subjects. IBIA provides a platform for these various views to be heard and discussed, at IBIA events and in material published by IBIA,” the association explained.
Concluding, IBIA urged its members to comply with regulations, follow best practices and pursue a high level of professionalism and ethical standards.
