Tag: INTERTANKO

INTERTANKO Seafarers Vetting Seminar a Success

INTERTANKO, as part of an industry coalition, has sent a letter to the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Assistant Administrator for Water requesting a change to the draft 2013 Vessel General Permit (VGP) ballast water treatment implementation schedule for newly built ships to be consistent with the US Coast Guard final rule schedule.The letter emphasises that is important to provide industry with a single, achievable US federal schedule for the installation of type-approved treatment technologies on ships calling at US ports.To view a copy of the letter click hereSource: INTERTANKO

Document was submitted to the IMO including major concerns over BWMS Concerns over the IMO's Ballast Water Convention (BWM) have been expressed by leading shipping organisations to the IMO ahead of this October's MEPC 64 meeting.A document was submitted to the IMO endorsed by Liberia, the Marshall Islands, Panama, BIMCO, INTERTANKO, CLIA, INTERCARGO, InterManager, IPTA, NACE and WSC.As has been raised at previous MEPC meetings, there are a number of issues that are affecting ratification and implementation of the BWM Convention that need to be addressed by the MEPC and the IMO member states to ensure proper and effective implementation of the convention.The major concerns of the authors are as follows:1) Need for revision of the Guidelines for approval of ballast water management systems (G8) to improve transparency and ensure appropriate robustness of ballast water management systems (BWMS).2) Availability of BWMS and sufficient facilities to install BWMS.3) Survey and certification requirements for ships constructed prior to entry into force of the BWM Convention.4) sampling and analysis procedures for port State control purposes.In June 2012, there were 23 type approved BWMS on the market; 25 BWMS have been approved in total with two BWMS having been withdrawn from the market by ...

In its paper INTERTANKO outlines four challenges Following consideration of the current state of ballast water treatment and the implementation of the International Convention by INTERTANKO's Council, ISTEC and Environmental Committee a submission has been made to the IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) outlining four key challenges relating to ballast water management. The submission has been made jointly with Liberia, the Marshall Islands, Panama, BIMCO, CLIA, Intercargo, InterManager, IPTA, NACE and WSC.In its paper, INTERTANKO outlines the four challenges affecting ratification and effective implementation of the BWM Convention as:need for revision of the Guidelines for approval of ballast water management systems (G8) to improve transparency and ensure appropriate robustness of ballast water management systems (BWMS); availability of BWMS and sufficient facilities to install BWMS; survey and certification requirements for ships constructed prior to entry into force of the BWM Convention; and, sampling and analysis procedures for port State control purposes.In terms of the type approval guidelines, the paper comments that these guidelines are intended to screen out BWMS that would fail to meet the IMO Convention discharge standards. Approval, however, does not ensure that a given system will work in compliance with the discharge standard once installed on board ...

INTERTANKO sends letter to US Senate on ballast water legislation

On 21 June, Paris INTERTANKO will be represented at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Working Party 6 (WP6) on Shipbuilding 21 June in Paris, which will be a special session on market-distorting factors.The purpose of this special session of WP6 is to allow a back-to-basics review of factors that can distort normal competitive conditions in the shipbuilding industry. This will allow participants to explore some fundamental issues about the shipbuilding market, and to discuss market distorting factors from different perspectives.INTERTANKO is invited to provide input on a session on the current status of the shipbuilding industry and its susceptibility to distortion, which will include:Following the 2008 economic downturn, is the shipbuilding industry performing well, or declining? What is the expected supply/demand balance in the short-term? Is shipbuilding facing a significant overcapacity problem in the near future? Is shipbuilding more, or less, susceptible to distortions than other industry sectors? Do regular boom-bust cycles exacerbate the risk of distortions in the market? If there is overcapacity in the industry, can this act as a catalyst for distortion in the market?Since its creation in 1966, the OECD's Council Working Party on Shipbuilding has addressed factors that distort normal competitive conditions ...

Joint cooperation in the area of information exchange ReCAAP (Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia) and INTERTANKO formalised their co-operation by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) last week at INTERTANKO's Annual Event in Singapore. The MoU records a mutual understanding on joint cooperation in the area of information exchanges and establishes a platform for future collaboration. It was signed by Yoshihisa Endo, Executive Director of the ReCAAP ISC, and Capt Graham Westgarth, Chairman of INTERTANKO.Signing this MoU marks yet another step forward in furthering the already close collaboration between on the one hand the Asian Initiatives to combat piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia, and on the other the international shipping associations representing the tanker community.At the opening of the signing ceremony, Westgarth remarked, "With this MoU, INTERTANKO and ReCAAP establish a framework for working together in the future built on the strong and positive cooperation since ReCAAP's establishment in 2006"."Such a Cooperative arrangement is one of the three pillars of ReCAAP," said Endo. "It allows a variety of organisations to collaborate and cooperate with the ReCAAP ISC in sharing information, and to participate in our capacity building programmes.We thank ...

Collaboration between the Asian Initiatives to combat piracy and armed robbery The ReCAAP ISC and INTERTANKO formalised their cooperation by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 11 May 2012. The Signing Ceremony took place at INTERTANKO's Annual Event organised for its members at Conrad Centennial Hotel in Singapore.The MoU records a mutual understanding on joint cooperation in the area of information exchanges and mutual support; and establishes a platform for future collaboration. It was signed by Mr Yoshihisa Endo, Executive Director of the ReCAAP ISC, and Capt Graham Westgarth, Chairman of INTERTANKO.The ReCAAP ISC, launched in Singapore in 2006, has signed similar cooperative arrangements with the International Maritime Organization (IMO), Asian Shipowners' Forum (ASF) and the Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO). Signing this MoU marks yet another step forward in furthering close collaboration between the Asian Initiatives to combat piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia and the international shipping association representing the tanker community.At the opening of the signing ceremony, Capt Westgarth remarked, "With this MoU INTERTANKO and ReCAAP establish a framework for working together in the future built on the strong and positive cooperation since ReCAAP's establishment in 2006"."Such a Cooperative arrangement is one of ...

INTERTANKO Council meeting in Singapore INTERTANKO is to open discussions with insurers and charterers about reclassifying the pirate infested waters off Somalia as a 'war zone' as opposed to a war-risk area to allow its owner members to legitimately avoid transiting the Gulf of Aden in favour of the longer route around the Cape of Good Hope, writes Sean Moloney.This controversial move was agreed at last week's INTERTANKO Council meeting in Singapore and negotiating an acceptable outcome could be one of the first tasks to be undertaken by the association's newly voted-in Managing Director Katharina Stanzel when she takes over as head of the secretariat on July 1st.Joe Angelo, INTERTANKO's outgoing Managing Director, told SMI: "We will look into the issue of making the area a war zone. By making it a war zone, it gives the owner the option of whether he wants to go through the zone or not. If it is a war risk area they have to go through it and deal with the issues associated with that. There is a big difference."Mr Angelo, who will return to his previous position of Deputy Managing Director and Director for Regulatory Affairs and the Americas, said reclassification of ...

To improve fuel efficiency and reduce air emissions Over fifty charterers, terminal operators and INTERTANKO Members gathered on Tuesday in Singapore to consider the benefits of the Virtual Arrival (VA) concept. The gathering was organised jointly by the Maritime and Port authority of Singapore (MPA), OCIMF and INTERTANKO. The objective was to hear how the VA concept had been used in practice and consider further how the concept could be made more widespread to improve fuel efficiency and reduce air emissions.The MPA's Chief Executive of Operations, Capt Segar, chaired the session and provided the port authority's views on the concept, explaining the expected benefits of reducing the number of vessels waiting in the anchorage and subsequently reducing the risk of incidents.After an introduction to the concept by INTERTANKO's Senior Manager Research & Projects Erik Ranheim, it was then left to the Panelists to provide their experience in using Virtual Arrival. This was kicked off by BP's Nigel Tan who provided a very clear message that the success of the concept relied on the charter party clause and how this was formed.This led to a good discussion about the trust and transparency required between the charterer and owner with INTERTANKO's General ...