Tag: MEPC 73

At its latest Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 73), IMO approved, among others, the guidance on the development of a ship implementation plan for the consistent implementation of the 0.50% sulphur limit, also known as the 2020 sulphur cap, under MARPOL Annex V.

Another exciting year is coming to an end. With only few days left until the end of 2018, SAFETY4SEA looks back on the events that defined the environmental stage of the shipping industry. 2020 sulphur cap, scrubbers, LNG, emissions; these are all topics that made the headlines throughout the year. But let’s take a closer look at those topics, which now are at the core of the shipping industry.

In light of MEPC 73 and its discussions regarding reducing shipping emissions, Greenpeace focused on another issue. The organization said that ships must reduce their speed, which could provide many benefits in the long term. Namely, lower speeds could lead to less CO2, among others.

IBIA reiterated that states that are parties to MARPOL Annex VI are supposed to inform the IMO of the availability of compliant fuel oils in their ports. Following a proposal by Liberia at MEPC 73, there is an established mechanism to do so and now it is hoped this can be used to help companies prepare for 2020 with detailed information about where and when compliant fuels will be available.

Experts from the five Maritime Technology Cooperation Centres in the GMN network met for their second annual meeting, on 22-26 October, in London, UK, to promote ship energy-efficiency measures and technology transfer, under the GMN project, funded by the European Union and run by IMO.

IMO has committed to address the problem that plastics are posing to the marine environment, by adopting an action plan to enhance current regulations and establish new supporting measures to limit marine plastic litter from ships. The action plan was adopted on 26 October by MEPC.

ICS welcomed the significant progress made by IMO's MEPC 73 on some key environmental issues, such as the GHG reduction from ships and the 2020 sulphur cap. ICS Chairman, Esben Poulsson, expressed satisfaction that IMO Member States have not sought to reopen the historic agreement or the CO2 reduction targets previously agreed, and praised China's proposals for organising future work.

The IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee held its 73rd session from October 22 to 26, 2018 and focused on a number of areas to improve shipping's environmental footprint. The topics of the discussions include ban of non-compliant fuel carriage and further discussions of reducing shipping's GHG emissions.

MEPC 73 tightened EEDI requirements for certain ship types, but confirmed that ferries would be among the categories where it is appropriate to retain the original timeline and reduction rates. These had been set in three phases, requiring improvements of 10% by 2015, 20% by 2020 and 30% by 2025.

MEPC 73, which concluded on Friday, considered impact assessment methodology ahead of sending the 'Scope of Work'- which sets out the work to be done to reduce the risks associated with the use and carriage of HFO by ships in Arctic, including the proposal for a ban, to PPR6 in February.