Tag: regulatory update cm

From December 2016, cruise vessels capable of accommodating more than 100 passengers and at berth in Sydney Harbour will be issued with a Direction by AMSA. The Direction will require the vessel to limit sulphur emissions by using low sulphur fuel or an alternative measure that achieves an equivalent outcome.

The European Parliament has finalized a three years legislative process concerning the Port Services Regulation, also known now as Ports Regulation, by adopting a report on the Regulation which establishes a framework for the organisation of port services and financial transparency of ports presented by the rapporteur MEP Knut Fleckenstein.

California Air Resources Board has issued an advisory to inform how it will proceed with enforcement of the Airborne Toxic Control Measure for Auxiliary Diesel Engines Operated on Ocean-Going Vessels At-Berth, beginning January 1, 2017.

Oceanic Technical Solutions’ managing director Robert Chesters welcomes the decision by the United Nations to amend the Montreal Protocol to reduce the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in air conditioning and refrigeration systems, but warns the shipping industry could be left in the cold if the International Maritime Organisation fails to implement similar measures.

London Ship Managers (LSM) has made substantial both economical and environmental savings across its fleet of 9000gt refrigerated cargo vessels following an extensive refrigerant plant optimisation programme carried out by Oceanic Technical Solutions.

Oceanic Technical Solutions has successfully converted all refrigeration and reefer plants onboard a Norbulk managed refrigerated cargo ship to run on refrigerant R407F.

OCIMF announced that work to update the second edition of the Tanker Management and Self Assessment (TMSA)- a Best Practice Guide for Vessel Operators is well underway. The work group is comprised of OCIMF members from Chevron, BP, ExxonMobil, Phillips 66, Shell, YPF, Statoil, OMV, Tesoro and Petrobras, who meet twice a month (a significant member commitment in these times) with the goal of publishing the new third edition in early 2017.

Members of the Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN) of the European Parliament are considering substantial simplifications to the Commissions proposal for a Regulation on market access to port services and financial transparency of ports.

 Oceanic Technical Solutions has secured a long-term service contract with Mitsui O.S.K Lines MOL LNG Transport (Europe) Ltd for the annual inspection, leak testing, condition monitoring and analysis of the refrigeration plants aboard all 15 LNG carriers in the Japanese shipowner’s European managed fleet.Oceanic Technical Solutions’ Managing Director, Robert Chesters, said: “The service agreement we have signed with MOL is to ensure that the refrigeration plant installed on these vessels is completely leak-tight, resulting in significant cost savings for the owner. With new refrigerant blends costing upwards of US$2000 per cylinder, we can pinpoint system failures and prevent costly refrigerant escaping to atmosphere. At the same time ensuring that vessels are running to the optimum efficiency and reducing their environmental footprint.“Fleet managers are under increasing commercial and environmental pressure to curtail the amount of refrigerant consumed and our experience tells us that containment is the only solution. A shipboard plant is no different to a domestic refrigerator. It is a contained system that if properly maintained should not require constant topping up. Refrigerant is not a consumable it is an asset that should be retained.”Service engineers have completed their assessment of the first vessel under the MOL LNG agreement, the ...

According to Wilhelmsen Ships Service (WWS), shipowners are incurring unnecessary operating costs by not ensuring their onboard refrigeration units are leak-tight. These costs are set to increase by five to 10 times their current level as new regulations on environmental protection come into force in the European Union (EU).To an industry faced with the challenges of compliance with a raft of regulations from low sulphur fuel to the Maritime Labour Convention, the issue of refrigeration gas leaks might seem small, but owners of EU-flagged vessels will soon need to start paying attention, according to Svenn Jacobsen of Wilhelmsen Ships Service.“Testing for gas leaks is at the moment, a maintenance issue but the impact of leaks from land-based and ship sources has the attention of regulators. For shipping, this is about to become a compliance issue,” he says. “Before that happens, owners need to start paying attention because the future costs of compliance will far outstrip what owners are paying for these gases today.”Refrigeration gas is a commodity like motor fuel but is not a consumable and therefore should not need replacing. Jacobsen says owners who are paying to recharge the gas systems should recognise they have a fault and take action. ...