IBIA has welcomed the agreement by IMO’s Sub Committee on Pollution Prevention and Response (PPR 12) to draft Interim Guidance on the carriage of blends of biofuels and MARPOL Annex I cargoes by conventional bunker ships.
The Sub-Committee agreed to draft Interim guidance on the carriage of blends of biofuels and MARPOL Annex I cargoes by conventional bunker ships, along with the accompanying draft MEPC circular. These will be submitted to Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) 83, to meet 7 to 11 April 2025, with a view to approval.
The guidance allows conventional bunker ships certified for carriage of oil fuels under MARPOL Annex I to transport blends of not more than 30% by volume of biofuel, as long as all residues or tank washings are discharged ashore, unless the oil discharge monitoring equipment (ODME) is approved for the biofuel blend(s) being shipped.
In November 2023 IBIA submitted a document to IMO on the carriage of biofuels for supply to a ship for use as fuel oil on board that ship. This highlighted that as conventional bunker vessels were limited in carrying fuel oil of no more than 25% biofuel it presented a potential impediment to the global adoption of biofuels as fuel oil for ships and so to the ambition for the decarbonization of international shipping in the short term, as set out in the 2023 IMO GHG Strategy.
