During SIGTTO panel meeting
IMO Secretary General, Mr Koji Sekimizu, gave a keynote speech during SIGTTO panel meeting today in London on industry role in global standard setting process for shipping.
During his speech, Mr Sekimizu congratulated SIGGTO for the major role it has played in achieving and maintaining an enviable safety record within the industry sector that it represents. In almost 50 years of commercial operation, LNG vessels have carried over 70,000 cargoes; and, during this period, there has been no loss of cargo tank containment and no on board fatality directly attributable to the cargo. This is a very impressive, in fact, unprecedented, safety record for the carriage of liquid hydrocarbons at sea in bulk.
He said: ”IMO’s prime responsibility remains that of developing and adopting acceptable global standards that will improve safety, security and efficiency for ships and, at the same time, help preserve the environment. But we are increasingly aware that what IMO does must be seen in a wider context, as it so often impinges directly on ports and, indeed, the entire supply chain.”
He added: ”The concept of a Sustainable Maritime Transportation System, which can be found on IMO’s website, must include not just the operation of ships, but all the activities that are vital to support shipping. Take ports, for example. As SIGTTO members will know very well, ports and ships cannot be treated separately. From a technical perspective, the development of port facilities and the development of ships have always gone hand in hand. There are numerous examples of ships being developed to be compatible with certain port facilities and of port facilities being developed with specific, particular ships in mind. So, to achieve sustainable development, harmonization is required between port policies and shipping policies; between regulations for ships and those for ports and in the field of trade facilitation measures.The same principle must be applied across all the other activities that are vital to support a Sustainable Maritime Transportation System.”
”Among the many requirements for such a system, one that will be of particular concern to SIGTTO and its members, is the global distribution, and availability, of marine fuels. As modern society increasingly demands clean air, so will shipping need to have access to an ample amount of clean energy, such as LNG and low sulphur fuel oils.”
He concluded his speech with IMO’s commitement to provide the institutional framework for sustainable development in the field of maritime transportation, building on its position as the UN specialized agency for global standard-setting for international shipping.
