Tag: UN

The Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection (GESAMP) held their 41st session at WMU from 1-4 September

Last month the U.N. Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) submitted seventeen SDGs to the U.N. General Assembly. The SDGs will form the basis for the global sustainable development agenda from 2015 through 2030. One of these goals - the Ocean SDG - aims to “Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development”. Ocean industries are encouraged to send comments about the Ocean SDG to the WOC by 29 August to ensure ocean business community input to the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) submission to the U.N. on the draft SDGs. Ocean industry representatives are also invited and encouraged to attend the WOC Business Forum on Ocean Policy and Planning (New York, 29-30 September, 2014) where the ocean business community will determine priorities for engaging on ocean policy, including for the Ocean SDG. Specific targets of the Ocean SDG include: Preventing and significantly reducing marine pollution of all kinds - by 2025. Sustainably managing and protecting marine and coastal ecosystems to avoid significant adverse impacts - by 2020. Minimizing and addressing the impacts of ocean acidification - no target date. Restoring fish stocks by regulating harvesting, ending overfishing, illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and ...

The UK P&I Club issued a Knowledge bulletin regarding the stepped up enforcement in the North American ECA. In a new enforcement initiative, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in cooperation with the United States Coast Guard (USCG), has boarded vessels to collect bunker samples to determine whether the vessels’ fuel sources meet the 1.0% fuel oil sulphur limit applicable within the North American Emissions Control Area (ECA). The EPA also disclosed that it has been “experimenting” with vessel flyovers to assess vessel smokestack plumes for the same purpose. The EPA’s unprecedented action, coming on the heels of its issuance of administrative subpoenas to several large companies operating ships within the North American ECA, announced stepped up efforts to enforce low sulphur fuel requirements within the North American ECA. Until this recent initiative, EPA and USCG officials seemed content to simply monitor compliance efforts by reviewing ECA-related records and documents such as Bunker Delivery Receipts during Port State Control inspections. These joint EPA/USCG initiatives to enforce fuel standards should serve as a warning to Club’s Members operating within the North American ECA. The commercial and legal consequences of a failure to comply with the ECA’s fuel oil sulphur limits ...

UN sanctions against North Korean vessel

Ships operating in the North and South Poles will have to follow a mandatory international code of safety being developed by a UN agency. The Polar Code is being drafted by the International Maritime Organization. It covers all aspects of polar navigation for international shipping including design, construction, equipment, seafarer training, search and rescue protocols and environmental protection matters. IMO’s Lee Adamson explains why IMO is developing a new mandatory code for ships operating in polar waters, in a UN Radio interview. Listen to the interview here​.  In the outbreak, I was explicit with you propecia before and after has changed my life. It has become much more fun, and now I have to run. Just as it is incredible to sit.

Navigating the poles with the help of the UN

Blue whales, the world's largest animals, frequent waters off California that overlap with some of the United States' busiest shipping lanes, according to a new study that suggests ship strikes are contributing to the whales' stagnating population numbers. Blue whales spend their summers in the shallow waters of marine sanctuaries surrounding the Farallon Islands and Channel Islands, offshore of San Francisco and Los Angeles, respectively. Scientists tagged blue whales and monitored their movements via satellite between 1993 and 2008, delineating core areas of use. Commercial shipping lanes intersect with these whale hot spots, sometimes resulting in fatal ship strikes. Ships struck and killed three blue whales in southern California alone in 2007, says study co-author Ladd Irvine, a marine mammal ecologist with Oregon State University in Newport. Two others were found dead in the same area, but the cause of death was inconclusive. This may not seem significant, but in a population of 2,500, five dead blue whales were enough for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to declare the deaths "unusual mortality events." Irvine and colleagues hope the new satellite tracking data-funded in part by a National Geographic grant-can help modify existing shipping lanes to minimize run-ins between ships ...

Alaska LNG project sponsors filed July 18 for federal permission to export liquefied natural gas for 30 years from a $45 billion to $65 billion development that includes a pipeline across Alaska and an LNG plant in the Nikiski area. In an application to the Department of Energy, Alaska LNG, a partnership of ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips and BP, asked that the export authorization's 30-year clock begin with the date of the LNG plant's first shipment or 12 years from the date permission is granted, whichever comes earlier. The three North Slope Alaska oil and gas producers are working with the state of Alaska and pipeline company TransCanada to develop the Alaska LNG export project. The development team has started preliminary front-end engineering and design work, with a decision anticipated late next year whether to proceed to full engineering, design and permitting. Their 212-page filing on July 18 seeks permission to export up to 20 million metric tons a year of LNG. That is a greater volume than the 17 million to 18 million-ton capacity plant they have discussed building. The larger volume provides flexibility as they polish designs for their LNG plant. A 20 million-ton-capacity plant could superchill about 2.5 billion cubic feet a ...

As of 1 July vessels can bunker LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) in the port of Rotterdam. Up to now only inland shipping could do this in the Seinehaven. The Municipality of Rotterdam took over the proposals of the Port of Rotterdam Authority Harbour Master to that end and amended the Rotterdam Port Management Bye-laws accordingly. The legislative amendment is a huge impulse for the introduction of LNG as fuel for shipping. LNG is cheaper and cleaner for the environment than fuel oil, the traditional shipping fuel. It is anticipated that many ports will follow the example of the port of Rotterdam as largest European port. The legislative amendment is in line with the aim of the Port of Rotterdam Authority to promote the use of LNG as shipping fuel and to become a leading LNG hub. The Port Authority previously supported an initiative of Gate to open an LNG terminal on the Maasvlakte in 2011. Facilities in the Seinehaven were opened last year allowing inland shipping to bunker LNG from an LNG tanker. The European Union (EU) supports these initiatives warmly. A subsidy of €40 million was awarded at the end of last year to stimulate the use of LNG ...

On 23 May, the 93rd session of the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) Maritime Safety Committee (MSC 93) adopted a new two-way route in the Great Barrier Reef and Torres Strait. This important measure to protect the environmentally sensitive waters of the region will come into effect on 1 December 2014. In 2013, the proposed route was reviewed by IMO Member States and international organisations and was approved for consideration by MSC 93. The marine environment off Australia's north-east is recognised for its unique physical, ecological and heritage values and rich marine biodiversity that includes a diverse array of marine species. It is afforded protection under various national and international laws.   The Great Barrier Reef and Torres Strait are both declared Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas (PSSAs) by the IMO. The Great Barrier Reef is also recognised as an iconic World Heritage property by UNESCO, for which its outstanding universal value is protected under national environment law. The ship routeing measure, arguably the world's longest, aims to reduce the risk of collisions and groundings by encouraging ships to follow well-defined lanes. It will help ensure ships keep clear of the numerous shoals, reefs and islands that lie close outside the two-way route. The ...