Tag: IMO MEPC

The Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has approved mandatory requirements for ships to record and report their fuel consumption, in a move that sends a clear and positive signal about the Organization’s continuing commitment to climate change mitigation.

ICS and INTERTANKO have jointly issued a call for the upcoming MEPC to to agree in principal than a final date for the 0.5% sulphur limit should be made during the 70th MEPC session.IMO MEPC 69th and 70th sessions will be held between April 18-22 2016 and October 24 to 28, 2016, respectively.

From 1st January 2016, ships which intend to carry Biofuel blends containing 75 per cent or more of petroleum oil, shall have an oil content meter (OCM) approved in compliance with resolution MEPC.108(49) as modified by resolution MEPC.240(65).IMO has issued MEPC.1/circ.858 regarding the issuance of revised certificate of type approval for oil content meters intended for monitoring the discharge of oil-contaminated water from the cargo tank areas of oil tankers. When the oil content meter (OCM) has been approved in accordance with resolution MEPC.108(49) before 17 May 2013, the Form of Type Approval Certificate (TAC), as provided in resolution MEPC.108(49), may be used:for OCMs installed on ships not carrying biofuel blends; orfor OCMs installed on ships carrying biofuel blends, until 1 January 2016 (on the condition that the tank residues and washings are pumped ashore).For all ships carrying biofuel blends on or after 1 January 2016, the OCM should have a TAC, as modified by resolution MEPC.240(65).When the OCM has been tested and submitted for approval (or re-approval in the case of OCMs that have undergone modifications but were originally approved in accordance with resolution MEPC.108(49)) on or after 17 May 2013, regardless of whether the OCM is intended for ...

  The Ballast Water Management Convention provides in its regulation D-3.2 that ballast water management systems that make use of Active Substances to comply with the Convention shall be approved by IMO based on a procedure developed by the Organization. According to regulation A-1.7 of the same Convention, an Active Substance is a substance or organism, including a virus or a fungus that has a general or specific action on or against harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens. The Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), at its fifty-third session (July 2005), adopted the Procedure for approval of ballast water management systems that make use of Active Substances (G9) by resolution MEPC.126(53). At the same session, MEPC agreed with the establishment of a Technical Group (GESAMP-Ballast Water Working Group) under the auspices of GESAMP* , to evaluate such systems and advise the MEPC accordingly. MEPC 57 (April 2008) adopted resolution MEPC.169(57), which revokes resolution MEPC.126(53) and contains the revised Procedure for approval of ballast water management systems that make use of Active Substances (G9). Section 8 of Procedure (G9) sets out the methodology to be followed for the two-tier approval of ballast water management systems that make use of Active Substances and requests IMO ...

  International shipping has to half its emissions says a new report by the Tyndall Centre at the University of Manchester. Cutting the shipping sector’s CO2 emissions in line with global climate change targets will need an approach that goes beyond current regulations, according to a new report by researchers from the Shipping in Changing Climates Consortium at UCL and the Tyndall Centre, University of Manchester. The new research presented to the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) illustrates the wide gap between what is needed to avoid 1.5/2°C of warming, compared with the current direction of travel of shipping CO2. The analysis shows how avoiding 1.5/2°C, whilst maintaining shipping’s present 2-3% share of total anthropogenic CO2, requires at least a halving of its CO2 emissions by 2050. This is the first time that the scale of the challenge has been presented directly at the IMO and articulated in terms of trajectories for individual ship types. The paper coincides with the submission to the IMO of a paper by the Republic of Marshall Islands calling for MEPC to agree a quantifiable and ambitious GHG emissions reduction goal for international shipping. Constraining CO2 budgets in line ...

  IMO’s original mandate was mainly focused on maritime safety. However, as the custodian of the 1954 OILPOL Convention, the Organization, soon after it began functioning in 1959, assumed responsibility for pollution issues. As a consequence, it has, over many years, adopted a wide range of measures to prevent and control pollution caused by ships and to mitigate the effects of any damage to the environment, human health, property and resources that may occur as a result of maritime operations and accidents. In order to address the increasing focus on environmental issues and to clearly demonstrate the importance the Organization attaches to such issues, in 1973 IMO established its Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC) to consider any matter concerned with marine pollution from ships. MEPC meets three times biannually and is open to all member States and observers. MEPC 62 was held in July 2011 with about 900 participants from 93 Member States and 67 observer organizations. The regulatory measures adopted by IMO have shown to be successful in reducing vessel-sourced pollution and illustrate the commitment of the Organization and of the shipping industry towards protecting the environment. Of the 53 treaty instruments IMO has adopted so far, no less ...

  ABS welcomed IMO's formal adoption of the remaining parts of the International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters (Polar Code). According to ABS Shared Technology Director James Bond, an active participant on the IMO group tasked with establishing new requirements, the Polar Code is essential for industry. "The formal adoption of the Polar Code is a powerful step forward toward safe and sustainable Polar activities," he says, noting that this milestone is the result of more than two decades of work led by the IMO to promote safety and reduce maritime environmental pollution in Arctic and Antarctic waters. The Polar Code, formally adopted on 15 May 2015 at the Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC) meeting in London, covers a broad spectrum of design, construction, equipment, operational, training, search and rescue and environmental protection measures. It is the first mandatory IMO instrument to formally introduce the notion of ice classes and sets a new precedent for the certification and approval of onboard equipment and safety systems exposed to low air temperatures and ice accretion. Entry-into-force is set for 1 January 2017. The Polar Code will require ships operating in Polar waters to have a Polar Ship Certificate that states operational ...

  Twelve environmental non-governmental organizations, led by Clean Shipping Coalition have sent a letter to EU Climate Ministers  to express concerns regarding the failure of the international community to control greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from international shipping. Environmentalists claim that IMO missed a historic chance to properly address emissions from international shipping during its 68th session of Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) held in mid-May. At that session, the Foreign Minister of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) introduced a proposal and a call for the adoption of a reduction target for GHG emissions from international shipping. This proposal represented a loud wake-up call to the international community but it only took the IMO 90 minutes to reject the matter, despite evidence that failure to cap a fast growing source of emissions such as international shipping will endanger the 2 degree target, the letter states. According to the letter: ” This failure is all the more remarkable given that the EU is on record at the UNFCCC calling for the IMO to establish a target consistent with the 2 degree objective. The RMI, Vanuatu, Tuvalu and the Solomons all took the risk to come to London and reclaim their IMO seats ...

  IMO MEPC will meet for its 68th session next week, from 11 to 15 May 2015, at IMO Headquarters in London.  The hot issue on the agenda will be the adoption of the draft environmental provisions of the Polar Code which will make the Code mandatory. The adoption of the Polar Code and associated MARPOL amendments at MEPC 68 will complete the process to make the Code mandatory under both the SOLAS and MARPOL treaties.   Other items under discussion at the forthcoming meeting will be as follows: MARPOL Annex I amendments relating to oil residues set for adoption  The MEPC will consider, with a view to adoption, draft amendments to regulation 12 of MARPOL Annex I, concerning tanks for oil residues (sludge).  The draft amendments update and revise the regulation, expanding on the requirements for discharge connections and piping to ensure oil residues are properly disposed of.  A related revised unified interpretation to the regulation will also be put forward for adoption.   Ballast water management status and technologies to be reviewed The MEPC will review the status of the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments (BWM Convention), 2004, which is ...

  Shipping users will for the first time be granted access to transparent data that identifies the most efficient ships and practices, under a law approved by the European Parliament in full. The public disclosure of fuel efficiency data will enhance competition for the best ships and routes, which in turn will trigger market forces that will result in fuel savings. Sustainable transport group Transport & Environment (T&E) said the measure is a stepping stone to CO2 targets that will start delivering much-needed cuts to shipping’s ever-growing emissions. The Monitoring Reporting and Verification (MRV) regulation will require ship operators to publicly report information on the environmental performance of ships. Cargo owners and ship operators have been crying out for efficiency data – some already adhere to a similar yet voluntary ‘Clean Shipping Index’ – as the more cargo a ship can carry using the same amount of fuel, the more efficient, cleaner and cheaper the service. But fuel efficiency improvements will be offset by the increase in transport demand. In its latest greenhouse gas (GHG) study the UN’s shipping body, the IMO, projects a 50 to 250% rise in shipping emissions by 2050. Sotiris Raptis, clean shipping officer at T&E, ...