International
Chamber of Shipping (ICS) members expressed concern over the looming
sulfur and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction rules at a Board meeting last
week.
“The 2020 global sulfur cap will be the regulatory game changer of the
decade with profound implications for the economics of shipping,”
Chairman, Esben Poulsson, said. “But there are even more profound
changes to come. We are rapidly moving into a multi-fuel future to be
followed we hope, in the 2030s, by the arrival of commercially viable
zero CO2 fuels suitable for global application.”
The ICS reviewed progress in persuading the IMO to take measures to
address expected implementation problems, including outstanding safety
and fuel compatibility issues associated with the use of new 0.5% sulfur
blends and continuing uncertainty over the availability of compliant
fuels in every port worldwide, a particular challenge for tramp trades.
It was concluded that it will be vital for the IMO Marine Environment
Protection Committee (MEPC) to complete this work at its meeting in May,
2019, as shipowners begin ordering compliant fuels.
“While fuel suppliers must play their part in providing sufficient
quantities of safe and compliant low sulfur fuels, shipowners must
urgently prepare their ship specific implementation plans for 2020,”
said Poulsson.“This should be carried out using the IMO template adopted
at the industry’s request and the detailed advice prepared by ICS,
which we have just updated to take account of other recent IMO
decisions. This will be vital to reduce the possibility of teething
problems or in the event of initial Port State Control difficulties due
to factors beyond the shipowner’s control.”
With regard to achieving the ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets
agreed by IMO last year, including a 40% efficiency improvement by 2030
and a 50% total cut in the sector’s GHG emissions by 2050, the ICS
Board endorsed the finalisation of proposals to IMO on short term
measures.
These included tightening of the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI)
for new ships – which already requires ships built in 2025 to be 30%
more efficient than those delivered before 2013 – as well as proposals
for a ‘Super SEEMP’ whereby existing Ship Energy Efficiency Management
Plans (SEEMP) could be subject to mandatory external audits, probably as
part of the ISM Code.
“We need IMO to make progress with short term GHG reduction measures as
soon as possible to achieve measurable additional GHG reductions by
2023, in addition to the 8% total reduction already achieved by the
sector since 2008, despite a massive increase in maritime trade over the
same period,” Poulsson explained.“But while these short term measures
are very important we want IMO to move on to developing the critical
long term measures that will truly help the industry to decarbonise
completely.”
“The ICS Board agreed that the industry cannot achieve the 2050 GHG
reduction target using fossil fuels. Over the next decade, we are
therefore going to require massive investment in research and
development of zero CO2 emitting propulsion systems and other
technologies, which don’t yet exist in a form that can be readily
applied to international shipping, especially in deepsea trades.This
will need to be a key component of the IMO strategy when detailed ideas
for long term measures are taken forward during 2020,”he said.
The ICS Board also endorsed the recommendation of the ICS Manning and
Training Sub-Committee that the Chamber should encourage the IMO to
embark on a comprehensive review of the IMO STCW Convention governing
seafarers’ and training and certification standards, given increasing
questions as to whether the STCW regime, which was last given a major
overhaul in 1995, is still fit for purpose in the 21st Century.
The meeting also expressed serious concern about the deteriorating
security situation in the Gulf of Guinea (as discussed last week by the
UN Security Council) where there has been a sharp increase in the number
of attacks on ships’ crews, many of which were extremely violent.
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