Two submissions on port call optimization are currently being prepared for two major IMO Committee meetings this spring. The first one concerns the Just-In-Time (JIT) concept and the second one regards port call harmonization.
The Chairman of the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) Legal Committee, Frans van Zoelen, and IAPH Managing Director Patrick Verhoeven attended an information session at the IMO headquarters yesterday where both draft submissions were discussed.
One submission contains an information paper on Just-In-Time (JIT) arrival of ships, prepared by the Global Industry Alliance, which operates under the auspices of the IMO GloMEEP project.
A desktop trial by members of the GIA alliance at the Port of Rotterdam, on 10 July, verified that Just-In-Time (JIT) ship operations can considerably help to cut emissions by communicating in advance the relevant information to the ship about the requested time of arrival – allowing the ship to adjust to optimum speed.
This document outlines in great detail the operational and contractual barriers that prevent JIT arrival from happening in reality and it proposes a series of solutions to overcome these barriers.
It will be submitted to the upcoming meeting of the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), which will be held from 30 March to 3 April.
The other submission consists of a proposal for IMO to develop guidelines for harmonised communication during port calls, prepared by BIMCO and the Dutch government.
This will be presented to the meeting of the IMO Facilitation Committee (FAL), which takes place from 20 to 24 April.
