The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and the Liberian Registry both came out in favour of decisions made at last week's meeting of the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) environmental working group.
The 71st session of the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) in London saw the group move on regulatory issues of much import to shipowners.
The ICS in particular welcomed the decision from the MEPC to push back for two years the date for implementing a ballast water management system [BWMS] on board ships. The MEPC says that owners will now have until their first or second renewal survey for an oil pollution prevention certificate after 8 September 2019.
ICS Director of Policy Simon Bennett said of the new deadline: “This is a victory for common sense that will allow shipping companies to identify and invest in far more robust technology to the benefit of the environment.”
ICS says the deferral will allow the installation of BWMS equipment that meets even more stringent standards than the ones initially adopted in 2016.
“The process leading up to the entry into the force of the Ballast Convention has been difficult and fraught,” Bennett said. “But as a result of last week’s decision by IMO the industry now has the clarity it needs to get on with the job and make the global implementation of this important piece of legislation a success.”
The Liberian registry noted that it first made proposals to defer the installation date for BWMS due to what it saw as an "implementation schedule [that] was unworkable within the predicted time-frame and given the availability of BWMS."
Alfonso Castillero, chief commercial officer for the Liberian Registry, said: “We want to thank the industry and all member states for the key role they played in securing this agreement. Liberia was one of the first administrations to ratify the [BWMS] convention, and is entirely committed to its effective and smooth implementation."
Separately, the ICS also congratulated what it saw as a "good start" on the development of a carbon dioxide reduction strategy, which will be a topic addressed at the 72nd MEPC meeting.
As reported previously by TradeWinds, the ICS and other trade groups favour a 2008 benchmark for limiting shipping's carbon dioxide output. It also pushed for the development of alternative fuels as a way to help the industry grapple with limiting carbon dioxide output and not subjecting the industry to local schemes for regulating carbon dioxide, such as the European Union's emissions trading system.
“Encouragingly, there seems to be a general understanding among nearly all IMO Member States that IMO needs to adopt a truly ambitious strategy if it is to remain in control of regulating carbon dioxide from ships, so that the application of unilateral measures such as the proposed incorporation of international shipping into the EU Emissions Trading System and the resultant market distortion will be unnecessary,” Bennett said.
