The 2019 GREEN4SEA Conference successfully concluded on Wednesday 13th of March, at the Lighthouse at Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC), attracting 750 delegates from a total of 350 organizations.
Guyana ratified two key IMO measures aimed to preserve bio-diversity: the Ballast Water Management Convention and another on use of harmful anti-fouling systems on ships hulls. It also ratified others regarding unlawful acts against the safety of navigation and removing wrecks from the seabed. In addition, it signed four instruments covering liability and compensation.
Mr. Mark Riggio, President, BEMA, refers to the objectives of this new association; as a key priority, the Ballastwater Equipment Manufacturers’ Association (BEMA) aims to harmonize differences between manufacturers and ship owners and provide a unified voice and technical support to facilitate compliance.
Wärtsilä’s Aquarius UV Ballast Water Management System is on demand by global shipping operators. The system will enable the vessels to be in line with the Ballast Water Management Convention regulations that entered into force in September 2017, concerning all new-builds vessels. The company’s BWTS has been presented with 13 systems, the orders for which were all booked in quarter four 2018.
2019 kicked off with the data collection on fuel oil consumption, alternative mechanisms to comply with the 2020 Sulphur cap, the EU Ship Recycling Regulation, the IMSBC Code 2017 amendment as well as amendments designating North Sea and Baltic Sea as ECAs. With many more regulations and developments still yet to come, nations from all across the globe, ship operators and crew are going through a key period because of ten major issues that will have significant impact over the next ten years in the shipping industry.
Mr. Mark Riggio, President of the Ballastwater Equipment Manufacturers’ Association (BEMA) talks about the current challenges toward BWMC implementation, highlighting that the deadline for a BWTS installation expires, thus the sooner they start planning, the better. As explained, more than 80% of the world’s fleet by tonnage flies the flag of an Administration signatory to the Convention
Mr. Leif Erik Caspersen, Director International Sales, ERMA FIRST, provides recommendations on how to select a suitable BWTS retrofitting. A ballast water treatment, he said, is much complicated as it is especially designed for each vessel. Mr. Caspersen advised that operators should select the systems with the most suitable operation options for their vessels.
BIMCO issued its latest digital bulletin focusing on the challenges that have risen around compliance with ballast water regulations. The association reminds that operators should take measures to comply as soon as possible, despite the fact that the focus is on the 2020 sulphur cap.
IMO’s MEPC 73 will take place on 22-26 October 2018, at IMO Headquarters in London, focusing on key environmental challenges facing the shipping industry. Among the key topics on the agenda are the hot issues of the GHG reduction from ships and 2020 sulphur cap.
In INTERCARGO’s Annual General Meeting on 1-2 October, the Association’s Chairman, John Platsidakis, underlined the challenge with respect to international regulators’ lack of understanding of how dry bulk ships operate worldwide on tramp trades.
