Tag: climate change

The shipping industry must and can play a significant role in addressing global warming by reducing its GHG emissions, according to a 4-year research, ‘Shipping in Changing Climates’, supported by over 30 partners from the industry, including Lloyds Register, Rolls Royce, BMT, Shell and MSI.

MS innogy, the first ship in Germany to be powered by an environmentally friendly methanol fuel cell, was christened and put into operation as a regular passenger vessel, in a formal ceremony, on Essen’s Lake Baldeney.

The Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment and the US state of California signed an environmental agreement, as part of their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to promote climate action at all levels.

NASA and the Norwegian Mapping Authority joined forces, in order to develop a satellite laser ranging station, 650 miles from the North Pole that will produce high-precision locations of orbiting satellites, help track changes in the ice sheets and improve the efficiency of marine transportation.

An American geographer discussed about the opportunities which are emerging from the rapid change in Arctic for the Prince Rupert. He believes that Prince Rupert can take advantage of its location, considering that shipping passages through the Arctic are becoming viable options.

The International Association of Ports and Harbors decided and announced that the World Ports Climate Initiative will be expanded to extend its scope from climate action to a full range of sustainability port development challenges the industry is facing. 

Commenting on IMO MEPC's outcome, Transport & Environment suggested that there is no substantial progress on tackling the global challenge of climate change. Disagreement over how to distribute efforts and the potential costs of measures remain the biggest obstacle to this progress. 

The Science Team of the Canadian Research Icebreaker CCGS Amundsen cancelled the first leg of the 2017 Expedition, due to southward motion of hazardous Arctic sea ice, caused by climate change. The extreme ice conditions in the south would make the ship arrive too late on site to meet research objectives. 

A one trillion tonne iceberg, one of the biggest ever recorded, has broken away from the Larsen C Ice Shelf, in Antarctica. The section broken is of 5,800 square km, which means the size of U.S. state of Delaware, and its volume is twice that of Lake Erie, one of the Great Lakes.

At MEPC 71, on 3-7 July, IMO progressed its environmental agenda, by clarifying the ballast water management schedule, progressing GHG and air pollution issues, adopting new NOx emission control areas, designating a further Particularly Sensitive Sea Area and agreeing to work on implementation of the 0.50% global sulphur limit.