Tag: MEPC 71

IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee is under way in London from 3 to 7 July. One of the key items on the agenda is the implementation of the Ballast Water Management Convention, entering into force on September 2017 and the prevention of atmospheric pollution from ships, including the reduction of GHG emissions and the 2020 sulphur limit.

Recent improvements in the design efficiency of new ships went into reverse last year, a new study has found. According to the CE Delft study, the average design efficiency of new bulk carriers, oil tankers and gas carriers was worse in 2016 than in 2015 and the share of new ships complying with future efficiency standards also decreased.

Bellona said that the Norwegian Shipowners' Association (NSA) calls for a ban on the use of Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO), joining the team of international organisations who want to ban heavy oil in the vulnerable waters around Arctic region.

In view of the IMO's MEPC upcoming meeting, on 3-7 July, INTERCARGO stresses the potential impacts of BWM Convention implementation on bulk carriers, suggesting that the regulation should respect the nature of the industry. The association proposes for existing bulk carriers only, the use of “extended ballast water exchange” to be implemented solely for these tanks.

Delegates at the IMO’s MEPC 71 may have the last chance to ensure that BWM Convention is implemented in an orderly fashion, when ships undergo their special surveys, once every five years. This will decide if the Convention’s requirements are finally fulfilled across the thousands of ships which require BWTS installations, Coldharbour CEO Andrew Marshall says.

Nearly 300 delegates from IMO Member States, international NGOs and intergovernmental organizations have gathered in London, for the first meeting of the Intersessional Working Group on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships, on 26-30 June. The group will provide a report to next week’s session of the MEPC 71.

ICS says that IMO decision on BMW implementation dates at the forthcoming MEPC 71, will be critical, having significant implications for around 40,000 existing ships and urges IMO to back a carefully crafted proposal, from a broad coalition of governments. ICS supports that a pragmatic proposal would allow shipping companies to identify and invest in far more robust technology to the benefit of the marine environment.

The German Maritime LNG Platform announced that it signed the Arctic Commitment, joining a diverse group of international companies, organisations, politicians and polar explorers calling for a ban on heavy fuel oil use in Arctic shipping.

At the 2017 UN Ocean Conference being held in New York this week, UN asks countries to support a ‘zero draft’ Call To Action, which stands for an acceleration of “actions to prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds”. This means that governments must implement tighter marine pollution controls or risk further degradation of the oceans, fish stocks and ecosystems.

Following the decision of the United States to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, the European Community Shipowners' Associations and the International Chamber of Shipping encourage the intention of the European Union and the People's Republic of China to intensify cooperation in achieving a global climate deal for shipping.