International Maritime Organization News

IMO 2020: Fujairah Tightens Exhaust Rules Ahead of 2020

Key Middle East oil terminal bans open-loop scrubbersFujairah in the United Arab Emirates has become the latest major port to ban a type of fuel exhaust cleaning system to comply with a coming tightening in rules regarding global sulphur emissions, mirroring similar moves in Singapore and China.Under International Maritime Organization (IMO) rules that come into effect from 2020, ships will have to reduce the sulphur content in their fuel to less than 0.5 percent, compared with 3.5 percent now…

UAE's Fujairah to Ban Ship Exhaust Cleaner When IMO 2020 Kicks In

The port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates has decided to ban the use of a type of ship exhaust cleaner, becoming the latest location to impose restrictions on so-called open-loop scrubbers, a port document showed.In recent months, many shipping companies have opted to fit scrubbers onboard their ships, ahead of major changes in the use of marine fuel across the world.The International Maritime Organization (IMO) will prohibit ships from using fuels with sulphur content above 0.5 percent from Jan.

Shipbuilding: OSC Orders VLCC Pair

Oman Shipping Company (OSC) is expanding courtesy of an order for a pair of newbuild Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC ) with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME).According to Michael Jorgensen, OSC's CFO and acting CEO,  said the VLCCs are expected to be deployed in the spot market, as the company plots further fleet expansion in the bulk and container market.Today OSC’s fleet includes 49 vessels including 16 VLCCs, 17 product tankers and 4 chemical carriers.The two latest additions will be constructed at DSME’s Okpo shipyard measuring 336m in length…

IMO Crosses Language Barriers

One of the great strengths of the UN system is its multi-national and multi-cultural nature.As far as possible, UN bodies try to work in their delegates’ own languages or at least in a language they are familiar and comfortable with. There are six official languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish) and the vast majority of international meetings throughout the UN system enjoy simultaneous interpretation into all of them.That means interpreters are often the unsung heroes of international diplomacy.

IMO 2020: Oil Refining Capacity to Grow at Record Pace

Global oil refining capacity is set to increase at its fastest pace on record this year, possibly boosting stocks of products such as diesel, gasoline and marine fuel, the International Energy Agency said.Oil refining capacity will rise by 2.6 million barrels per day (bpd) and demand for refined products by around 1.1 million bpd, the IEA said in a monthly report.It was not clear yet what that meant for margins, which slumped as the price of crude rose last year, said the Paris-based IEA…

ABS, Fleet Management Join Force on Cybersecurity

Global provider of classification and technical advisory services to the marine and offshore industries ABS Advanced Solutions and Hong Kong-headquartered Fleet Management Limited signed an agreement to implement the ABS industry-leading cyber security solution for Fleet Management’s 220-vessel liquid cargo fleet.“Fleet Management Limited is one of the world’s leading ship management firms, and their decision to select the ABS FCI Cyber Risk model underlines its position as an industry leader…

Ship Fuel: Singapore Bunker Volumes Dip, 2019 Uncertain

Sales of marine fuels in Singapore, the world's biggest ship fueling port by volume, totaled 49.8 million tonnes in 2018, down 2 percentfrom a record the year before, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said on Monday.December sales volumes of marine fuels, also known as bunkers, reached an 11-month high of 4.308 million tonnes, up 10 percent from November and the second-highest for the year, the data showed.The strong month helped lift Singapore's 2018 marine fuel sales figures to the second highest on record…

IMO Emphasizes Seafarer Training

The  International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretary-General Kitack Lim has highlighted the need to consider seafarer training and standards as shipping evolves, with increasing levels of technology and automation.Speaking at IMO Headquarters (15 January) at the launch of a new report “Transport 2040: Automation, Technology and Employment - the Future of Work”, Secretary-General Lim set out key questions that will require focus from all stakeholders:  “How will the seafarer…

China Bans Open-Loop Scrubber Discharge at 'Some' Ports

China's maritime authority has banned the discharge of "wash water" used in ships to strip hazardous sulphur emissions from engine exhaust gases from Jan. 1 for some ports, according to a government document reviewed by Reuters on Tuesday.The ban on water discharge from so-called open-loop scrubbers is part of an effort to prepare for International Maritime Organization (IMO) rules that will ban ships from using fuel oil with a sulphur content of more than 0.5 percent from 2020…

Shipping Ponders the Ultimate Cost of ‘Green’

Low sulphur fuels, scrubbers, LNG and other solutions are all part of the mix. Handicapping the impact of any of these options for the bottom line is anything but easy. Getting greener is not the problem; determining the best way to get there is quite another.By any measure, the business of running vessels will not be the same after January 1, 2020, when the present 3.5% limit on sulfur content will ratchet downward to 0.5%. With the implementation date for the changes, enacted…

For JAXPORT, LNG Spells Success

‘A thousand firsts’ and a constantly growing list of players underscores the rapid development of LNG as a fuel – especially along the East Coast of the United States.Click on the headlines for the phrase “LNG Bunkering” and you immediately learn that it is an industry of a thousand firsts and a constantly growing list of players.“Russia's Novatek ships first LNG cargo to China via Arctic; Yamal LNG ships first LNG cargo to Spain; Qatar ships first LNG to Japan, signs accord; Japan orders its first LNG bunker vessel…

Cruise Industry to Cut Carbon Emissions 40%

The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) announced an industry commitment to reduce the rate of the global fleet's carbon emissions 40% by 2030, from a 2008 baseline."We aspire to the International Maritime Organization’s vision of a carbon-free shipping industry by the end of the century," said Arnold Donald, global CLIA chairman and president and CEO, Carnival Corp. & plc. "Our commitment to a 40 percent reduction in the rate of emissions by 2030 is a strong first step…

Industry Calls for Block Exemption Regulation Extension

Four trade associations representing the international liner shipping industry submitted comments to the European Commission supporting extension of the EU consortia block exemption regulation (BER) for an additional five years beyond its current 2020 expiration date.The papers were submitted in the public consultation being held by the Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP) by the World Shipping Council (WSC), the European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA), the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), and the Asian Shipowners’ Association (ASA).

ICE to Launch Marine Futures Contracts Ahead of IMO 2020 Sulfur Cap

The Intercontinental Exchange will launch new Marine Fuel 0.5% futures contracts in advance of the implementation of the 0.5% sulphur cap by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in 2020.The operator of global exchanges and clearing houses and provider of data and listings services said in a press release that the new contracts are expected to launch on February 4, 2019, subject to completion of relevant regulatory processes.The new contracts have been developed in response…

Carnival's First LNG Powered Ship Delivered

Carnival Corp on Wednesday launched its first liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered ship in Germany as the world's largest cruise operator tries to cut its carbon footprint.Addition of LNG ships are part of Carnival's ongoing fleet enhancement strategy and 20 new vessels are scheduled for delivery between 2018 and 2025.The shipping industry have been forced to look for cleaner options such as LNG after the International Maritime Organization introduced tough new rules on use of marine fuel.Strategically important ports such as Gibraltar are already preparing to offer upgraded facilities to meet

UNCTAD Calls on Ports to Address Climate Change

About 80% of world trade is carried by sea, but the maritime industry handling these goods is on the frontline of climate woes, unless it adapts - fast.United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said that the transformation is needed if the world trade system is to cope with the projected impacts of climate change.“The hardest hit areas, coastlines, will affect us all since the lion’s share of trade itself is managed through international shipping and ports,” said UNCTAD’s chief of policy and legislation…

Ukraine Accedes to International Convention on Load Lines

Eastern European country Ukraine has acceded to an important International Maritime Organization (IMO) ship safety treaty – the 1988 Protocol relating to the International Convention on Load Lines.Limitations on the draught to which a ship may be loaded make a significant contribution to the ship's safety, said a press release from IMO.These limits are given in the form of freeboards, which constitute, besides external weathertight and watertight integrity, the main objective of the Convention.

UNCTAD to Push Sustainability into Freight Transport Systems

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) convenes meeting on ways to build sustainability into freight transport systems, including shipping, to boost trade with and between developing countries.According to UNCTAD, governments, shipping companies and trading industries will need to balance economic, social and environmental concerns to achieve sustainability in maritime transport, experts will say at an UNCTAD meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, on 21–23 November.Multi-year Expert Meeting on Transport…

MPC Container Ships Plans Huge Investment in Scrubbers

The Oslo-based feeder tonnage owner MPC Container Ships has committed to buy exhaust gas cleaning systems  (scrubbers) for five of its ships, with an option to buy ten times as many additional scrubber systems.Under the agreement, the scrubbers would be retrofitted on five selected vessels within the company’s fleet prior to the January 1, 2020 implementation date of the new sulphur emission cap regulation, as set forth by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).Norwegian…

Swiss Climate EcoCare, Korean Register MoU for IMO DCS Services

The Classification Society Korean Register (KR) and Swiss Climate EcoCare GmbH has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to provide enhanced International Maritime Organization (IMO) Data Collection System (DCS) services to the maritime industry.According to a release, the MoU was signed in Hamburg, Germany on 22nd Nov 2018 in presence of Philipp Ahrenkiel, Managing Director at Swiss Climate EcoCare GmbH and Michael Suhr, Technical & Commercial Director at Korean Register, Germany.

IMO Provides Fellowships for Women in Ports

International Maritime Organization (IMO)  has provided fellowships to ten female officials attending a Port Senior Management Programme held at the Galilee International Management Institute (GIMI) in Nahalal, Israel, (14 -27 November). "A successful and well-run port contributes to the sustainable economic development of its region. But what is also an economic no-brainer is female empowerment. We provide fellowship to address both these points," said a statement from IMO.The two-week course provides participants with key information and updates on innovations in the port industry.

Hapag-Lloyd Commits to EGCS Retrofitting

German container shipping major Hapag-Lloyd announced its plan to retrofit ten vessels with Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems (EGCS). Ten Hamburg Class vessels (13,000 TEU) to be retrofitted in 2019 and 2020, it said.Hapag-Lloyd has ordered ten Hybrid Ready Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems (EGCS), which will be gradually installed to ten of Hapag-Lloyd’s Hamburg class vessels (13,000 TEU) during 2019 and 2020. This will allow the company to comply with the upcoming IMO2020 low sulphur…

West Africa to Promote Electronic Data Exchange for Vessels

Ships and ports will need to be able to exchange arrival and departure data electronically from April 2019, under International Maritime Organization (IMO)'s Facilitation Convention said a press note.There requirements also encourage the use of a single window in which all the many agencies and authorities involved exchange data via a single point of contact. Training in the treaty requirements took place during national seminars in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea (13-15 November) and in Nouakchott, Mauritania (20-22 November).

Pacific Region to Enhance Maritime Traffic

To help increase ratification of the FAL Convention and improve understanding of its requirements, two National Seminars on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic have been delivered by International Maritime Organization (IMO), in cooperation with the Pacific Community (SPC), in Tarawa, Kiribati (14-16 November) and in Honiara, the Solomon Islands (20-22 November)."When the communication between ships and port is smoothly run, shipments move more quickly, more easily and more efficiently.

Seoul Connects Maritime Capacity-building Activities with IMO

The first regional donor/recipient workshop on maritime Technical Cooperation activities held in Seoul, the Republic of Korea (26-30 November). The workshop built on the long-term resource mobilization strategy for International Maritime Organization (IMO)'s Technical Cooperation activities, approved at the sixty-eighth session of the IMO Technical Cooperation Committee (TCC).According to a release from IMO, this strategy identified a more proactive and methodical approach with regard to generating new resources by encouraging the development of partnerships with Member States…

IOC: 5-year Tender on Scrubber-fitted Tankers

Indian Oil Corp (IOC) issued a global tender to charter scrubber-fitted oil tankers for at least five years to import Iraqi oil, a tender document seen by Reuters showed.The tender says Indian shippers will be given first right of refusal for the contract as the nation seeks to boost its shipping industry. It is seeking bids from vessels that are less than 10-years old.A scrubber is a product that strips out sulphur emissions and, in doing so, can allow shippers to use dirtier…