Tag: INTERTANKO

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 ...

Maximum sulphur content of 0.10% from 2015 As reported last, on 16 February, the Environment Committee (ENVI) of the European Parliament adopted its first reading position on the Commission proposal on the revision of the EU Sulphur Directive. In this first reading position, ENVI members suggest stricter sulphur limits for the EU than those stipulated in MARPOL Annex VI.To recall, on 15 July 2011 the European Commission came forward with its proposal to revise the EU Sulphur Directive (1999/32/EC), which lays down the maximum permitted sulphur content of heavy fuel oil, gas oil and marine gas oil used in the EU. According to the Commission, the main purpose of the revision of Directive 1999/32/EC is to align it with the 2008 amendments to MARPOL Annex VI and the new sulphur standards.According to the ENVI Committee's position, ships operating in Sulphur Emission Control Areas (SECAs), in EU territorial seas, and pollution control zones, would be required to burn fuels with a maximum sulphur content of 0.10% from 2015. In Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) ships would be required to burn fuels with a maximum sulphur content of 0.50% from 2015. As of 2020, ships sailing in EU waters (i.e. territorial seas, exclusive ...

Round Table associations positions on GHG+MBMs As it issues its latest position paper on greenhouse gases from ships and market-based measures (attached below), the Round Table of international shipping associations (RT) is of the view that Market Based Measures (MBMs) are not justified at this particular time.The RT fully supports the adoption at IMO of mandatory Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) for new ships and the Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP) for all ships. It is convinced that the SEEMP will allow shipowners to better gauge their energy consumption and thereby enhance existing operational efficiency, since fuel is the single highest operational cost factor and this fact alone has already induced ship-owners to become more energy efficient.In the event that Market Based Measures (MBMs) are eventually introduced to shipping by IMO, these should apply globally and should completely address the nine principles adopted by IMO, it says.If ultimately it is found that technical and operational measures cannot wholly meet the agreed reduction targets, then any funds generated by means of a globally applied MBM for shipping must be controlled by IMO, says the RT, and, in large part, be disbursed to support further technological development focused on energy efficiency ...

EEDI formula in its present form is not supposed to be applicable to all ships The Round Table of international shipping associations (RT) supports the adoption of the new energy efficiency regulations for ships by the IMO in July 2011, which demonstrated the effective role of IMO in regulating worldwide shipping CO2 emissions. The measures include the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) for new ships and the Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP) for all ships in service.The EEDI formula in its present form is, however, not supposed to be applicable to all ships. Indeed, it is explicitly recognised that it is not suitable for all ship types (particularly those not designed to transport cargo) nor for all types of propulsion systems.Parallel to the regulatory developments at IMO, a number of initiatives are seeking to apply the EEDI formula also to existing ships, using speculative data to establish the values. The RT strongly recommends against the application of EEDI to existing ships, as the values generated by such application can be misleading and can create unintended consequences. The focus for ships in service is - and should continue to be - on operational and commercial efficiencies.The EEDI separates the technical ...

There are 64 Contracting States to the Bunkers Convention INTERTANKO Members will recall that the Bunkers Convention came into force in November 2008 . It applies to all ships over 1000 gt.INTERTANKO advised at the time that there is nothing in the Convention which excludes tankers covered by the CLC regime. Each Convention is free-standing. The Bunkers Convention does only apply to spills which would not otherwise be compensated under the CLC. However, the CLC only applies to tankers when they carry persistent oil in bulk as cargo, or on the voyage immediately thereafter. In practice, therefore, the Bunkers Convention could apply on rare occasions when the CLC tanker is unladen. State Parties will likely therefore insist on a Bunker Convention certificate for CLC tankers whether or not the CLC applies.This advice has now been endorsed by the IMO Assembly in the attached IMO Resolution which recommends that State Parties to the Bunkers Convention:issue the certificate prescribed by the Bunkers Convention even when the ships concerned also hold a CLC certificate;require ships of 1,000 gross tonnage and above flying their flag or entering or leaving ports or offshore facilities in their territory to be insured and to hold a bunkers ...

The most important relevant items during the meeting INTERTANKO attended this week the IMO/MEPC Intersessional Meeting dedicated to finalisation of IMO guidelines for the calculation of the attained Energy Efficiency design Index (EEDI), the verification and control process of the data used for the EEDI calculation and the guidelines for the Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP).Some of the most important relevant items that were handled at this meeting are as follows:Cubic capacity correction factor for chemical tankers - We remind you that when the EEDI regulation was approved by MEPC 62 in July 2011, it was agreed to include into the EEDI formula a cubic correction factor for chemical tankers which should take into account the cubic capacity of these ships as related to their deadweight. This week's meeting had to conclude on how to determine such a correction factor.After a number of deliberations, the cubic correction factor for chemical tankers will be determined by the formula fc = R-0.7 - 0.014 (fc = 1 when R = 0.98) where R is the ratio between the ship's deadweight and its capacity. The value of the correction factor is illustrated in this graph on which the red line is the ...

Any company engaged in substantial business with Iran should have a contingency plan INTERTANKO has received a number of enquiries from Members regarding recent and proposed US sanctions on Iran. Jonathan Epstein, a partner in the Washington DC office of our Associate Member, Holland and Knight, has kindly provided the following commentary on this issue for the benefit of all Members.BeginsOn December 31, 2011, President Obama signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act For Fiscal Year 2012 ("NDAA" or "the Act"). Amended to and included in this major piece of legislation was Section 1245 ("Imposition of Sanctions with Respect to the Financial Sector of Iran"), which requires the President to sanction foreign financial institutions (e.g., foreign banks) that facilitate significant transactions with Iranian banks, particularly with respect to oil transactions.While there are grace periods for compliance, and considerable latitude given to the President to waive imposition of sanctions, the potential ramifications of this legislation are enormous for companies that operate tanker vessels carrying petroleum and petroleum products to and from Iran as, for the first time, the US has targeted transactions involving the export of crude oil from Iran to third countries.These new sanctions follow closely after the sanctions ...

Trends and assessments of piracy and sea robbery in Asia The ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre issued the Report of the 2011 Piracy & Sea Robbery Conference, jointly sponsored by ReCAAP, the Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO), the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners (INTERTANKO), the NATO Shipping Centre, and the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore on 14 April 2011.The conference addressed, among other things, trends and assessments of piracy and sea robbery in Asia; regional industry, ship owner's and seafarer's perspectives on piracy and sea robbery; and operational experiences of participating naval forces in combating piracy and sea robbery off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden.To view the Report, click here.Source: ReCAAP

PhD Fellowship in Marine Pollution Law at World Maritime University INTERTANKO launches PhD Fellowship in Marine Pollution Law at World Maritime University.INTERTANKO is to fund a three-year PhD study into the emerging law and policy on criminal liability for marine pollution and the effects of this on seafarers.INTERTANKO will be working with the World Maritime University (WMU) and with the individual student chosen to undertake this important work. INTERTANKO's Council has identified criminalisation as a high priority item for the INTERTANKO Work Plan. In addressing this issue, INTERTANKO's Insurance and Legal Committee has sought to study emerging cases, case law and national, regional and international law which supports this 'blame culture' trend."It is this blame culture that has led to the criminalisation of our seafarers simply for doing their job," says Ken Marshall, Chairman of INTERTANKO's Insurance and Legal Committee. "We believe that this work will be a tangible benefit to our Members and indeed to seafarers and the whole shipping industry worldwide." It is to assist this study that INTERTANKO is establishing from January 2012 its PhD Fellowship in Marine Pollution Law at the World Maritime University in Malmo, Sweden."INTERTANKO has taken every opportunity to highlight the unfair treatment ...

Selection and Installation of Ballast Water Management Systems for Tankers INTERTANKO's Ballast Water Treatment Technology Guide launched earlier this week in Athens. Twenty member companies were represented at the launch which involved a seminar and Q&A session on ballast water treatment technology and compliance, moderated by INTERTANKO Senior Manager - Environment, Tim Wilkins.INTERTANKO's Guide to the Selection and Installation of Ballast Water Management Systems for Tankers has been developed to assist tanker owners during the selection, assessment and installation of Ballast Water Management (BWM) systems for existing and newbuilding tankers. It has been developed using experience and guidance from INTERTANKO Members on the Environmental Committee and INTERTANKO's Safety, Technical and Environmental Committee (ISTEC). It is therefore the product of research by several separate tanker operating companies and their technical teams who have been through the process of considering which BWM systems are appropriate for the tankers within their fleet.One of the key elements in tackling the problem of proper selection and installation of BWM systems on board tankers is the gathering of information. INTERTANKO Members identified early on that neither the information from the BWM manufacturers, nor that from the classification societies as technical bodies, was sufficient to base a ...