The 107th session of the IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee (MSC 107) approved Interim Guidelines for the safety of ships using liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
The basic philosophy of these Interim Guidelines is to provide provisions for the arrangement, installation, control and monitoring of machinery, equipment and systems using LPG as fuel to minimize the risk to the ship, its crew and the environment, having regard to the nature of the fuels involved.
The guidelines were developed by the CCC Sub-Committee, as part of the important work being carried out by the Sub-Committee in the context of shipping’s need for new fuels and propulsion systems to meet decarbonization ambitions set out in the Initial IMO GHG Strategy.
Matters related to innovative types of fuel are considered under the CCC agenda item on the International Code of Safety for Ships using Gases or other Low-flashpoint Fuels (IGF Code) and development of guidelines for alternative fuels and related technologies.
The IGF Code, which entered into force in 2017, aims to minimize the risk to ships, their crews and the environment, given the nature of the fuels involved. The Code initially focused on liquefied natural gas (LNG), but work is now underway to also consider alternative fuel types.
Interim guidelines for the safety of ships using methyl/ethyl alcohol as fuel have already been developed by the Sub-Committee and were approved by MSC in 2020. Interim guidelines for ships using fuel cells were approved by MSC 105 in April 2022.
