In light of port of Mombasa’s efforts to reduce sulphur shipping emissions, the Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA) reported that it had inspected 550 ships, adding that the exercise is ongoing. Ships calling at the port are subjected to random inspections by KMA’s State control officers.
The Marlborough District Council sent a draft submission to the Ministry of Transport stating that specific regions, as Picton and the Marlborough Sounds, would benefit if New Zealand signed the global agreement that focuses on an international treaty to reduce ship emissions, saying the tighter regulations will benefit both human health and the environment.
Bunkering is considered as one of the most challenging operations and procedures on board because it requires a great level of effort, time and response in order to be conducted safely. Bunkering is also involved in the new IMO requirement toward the reduction of Green House Gases – and especially CO2 – from ship emissions, the so called IMO Data Collection System.
With new, stricter regulations coming into force regarding fuels’ sulphur content, the quality of bunkers delivered to ships is of high importance; they need to meet the agreed purchase specifications and applicable global and local regulations. Nevertheless, there are cases in which ‘bad bunkers’ are delivered, which may lead to damages to ship engines, disputes between owners and charterers, even detentions and fines.
The latest Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) was jointly conducted from 1st September to 30th November 2018 by the Paris, Tokyo, India and Black Sea MoU, focusing on compliance with the MARPOL Annex VI. Namely, during these three months, the PSC Authorities checked eleven items as mentioned in the CIC questionnaire.
Tokyo MoU conducted the concentrated inspection campaign (CIC) on MARPOL Annex VI from 1 September 2018 to 30 November 2018. Member Authorities inspected 6,604 vessels, of which 4 (0.06%) were detained, due to the campaign. Overall, 176 (2.14%) ships were detained during the campaign. The highest number of CIC inspections regarding ship type were performed on bulk carriers 2,402 (36.37%).
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the latest state to endorse the IMO instrument providing rules for the prevention of air pollution from ships and energy efficiency requirements. The overall number of ratifications of MARPOL Annex VI is 93, and reflects the 96.6% of the global merchant shipping tonnage.
IMO’s Sub-Committee on Pollution Prevention and Response (PPR) will conduct a meeting on 18 to 22 February to IMO’s headquarters, London. IMO’s agenda includes MARPOL Annex VI guidelines, safety measures on reducing the risks of use and carriage of heavy fuel oil, as well as measures aiming to decrease the impact on the Arctic of Black Carbon emissions from international shipping.
As of 1st January 2019, amendments to the bunker delivery note have entered into force, relating to the supply of marine fuel oil to ships, which have fitted alternative mechanisms to comply with the IMO’s 2020 sulphur cap. Other amendments that entered into force this year include the IMSBC Code 2017 amendment and the amendments to designate North Sea and Baltic Sea as ECAs.
IMO-administered pollution emergency response centre in the Mediterranean conducted a regional workshop to identify and address any barriers for Mediterranean coastal States concerning political, legal and technical obstacles that challenge ratification and subsequently the effective implementation of MARPOL Annex VI air pollution and energy efficiency regulations.
