International Maritime Organization News

Us to Be 'Strong Supplier' of Compliant Marine Fuels

Owing to its booming shale industry, the United States is likely to become an important supplier of low-sulphur marine fuels ahead of major new emissions regulations in 2020, Vienna-based consultancy JBC Energy said on Monday."The (United States) is likely to emerge as a strong supplier of compliant fuels in the coming quarters in the context of the IMO sulphur spec switch," said JBC.The U.N. International Maritime Organization (IMO) is introducing new rules on marine fuels from 2020…

How Refiners Plan to Grapple With Fuel Oil Output After 2020

High-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO), essentially the leftovers of an oil refiner's output, will still flow from refineries around the world even after new rules start up in 2020 curtailing its use in the global shipping fleet, a Reuters survey showed.Sixty percent of the 33 refineries contacted by Reuters in a global survey will still produce HSFO in 2020 although the supply will tighten as 70 percent of these refiners plan to reduce their output.Starting that year, ships will have to use marine fuel…

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…

Singapore Funds Green Marine Fuel Program

Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has allocated about USD 3.64 million under the Green Energy Programme to support the development and use of cleaner alternative marine fuels such as biofuels and methanol. Senior Minister of State, Dr Lam Pin Min announced initiatives by Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said that companies can use the fund in their research and development in alternative fuels to meet future greenhouse gas emissions regulations.He said…

Argus Adds New Marine Fuel Price Assessments

Oil price reporting agency Argus has launched five new price assessments for low-sulphur marine fuels, ahead of new global rules capping the amount of sulphur in marine fuels, also known as bunkers.International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations will cut the limit for sulphur in bunker fuels globally from 3.5 percent to 0.5 percent from the start of 2020."Argus is pleased to be taking the lead in bringing price transparency that enables this large and emerging oil market to advance trading in preparation for the IMO 2020 required fuels…

Zero carbon at sea? Rotterdam port eyes a greener future

In Rotterdam, ships from around the world cruise in and out of Europe's busiest port, a bustling industrial hub that employs almost 200,000 people and produces 20 percent of the Netherlands' climate-changing gases.As Rotterdam tries to cut its emissions - in line with global goals to curb global warming - shipping emissions are a particular challenge, not least because many fall outside the targets set by the Paris Agreement to curb climate change.But the city's bustling port…

Nigerian Maritime: Dakuku Re-elected Chairman

The Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Dr. Dakuku Peterside has been re-elected the Chairman of the Association of African Maritime Administration (AAMA) for another term.Dr. Dakuku who is the incumbent Chairman of the Association was unanimously elected to continue to lead the body by the member states present at the 4th conference of the continental body which recently met at the El-Sharm sheik in Egypt.According to the Chief Operating Officer and Acting CEO of the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA), Mr.

Maersk: New Cargo Guidelines After Containership Fire

Maersk has implemented new guidelines on dangerous goods stowage that aim to improve safety practices across its fleet in the wake of the fire aboard containership Maersk Honam that killed five crewmembers earlier this year.Following the deadly fire, Maersk evaluated more than 3,000 United Nations (UN) numbers of hazardous materials in order to further understand and improve dangerous cargo stowage on board container vessels and developed a new set of principles called Risk Based Dangerous Goods Stowage.Together with the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS)…

Verifavia Signs with Two Ship Managers

Verifavia, an emissions verification company for the transport sector (aviation and shipping), has announced major cooperation’s with two of the world’s largest ship managers, namely Wallem Ship Management in Hong Kong and Zeaborn Ship Management in Hamburg (a consolidation of E.R. Schiffahrt and Rickmers Shipmanagement), to conduct verification services for European Union (EU) Monitoring Reporting and Verification (MRV) and the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Data Collection System (DCS)…

CompactClean BWMS Receives IMO Type Approval

DESMI Ocean Guard A/S has announced that the CompactClean Ballast Water Management System (BWMS) has received International Maritime Organization (IMO) Type Approval according to the revised IMO BWMS code.This approval means that the CompactClean BWMS becomes one of only two systems worldwide approved for installation on vessels also after October 28, 2020.On September 21, 2018 DESMI Ocean Guard’s CompactClean Ballast Water Management System (BWMS) received IMO Type Approval according to the IMO Code for Approval of Ballast Water Management Systems (resolution MEPC.300(72))…

No Delays to Implementing 2020 Sulphur Cap -IMO Official

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) will not delay implementing a reduction in the amount of sulphur in marine fuel in 2020, an IMO official said on Tuesday."I can categorically say there will not be a delay," said Edmund Hughes, the head of air pollution and energy efficiency at the IMO, during the Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference (APPEC) in Singapore.IMO, the United Nations' shipping agency, will require that vessels start in 2020 using fuel oil with 0.5 percent sulphur…

Maritime Emissions: Ship and Port Toolkits Ready

A new set of toolkits to assess and address emissions from ships and ports is now available from the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the global regulatory body for shipping.The Ship Emissions Toolkit and Port Emissions Toolkit have been developed under the GEF-UNDP-IMO Global Maritime Energy Efficiency Partnerships (GloMEEP) Project, in collaboration with its strategic partners, the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) and the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH)."To reduce emissions across the maritime sector…

Greek Shipowners Meet Danish Shipping

The Union of Greek Shipowners (UGS) has welcome to its premises the Board of Directors of Danish Shipping in the context of the bilateral meetings of the two national shipowners’ associations.Representing two traditional maritime nations, the Board of Directors of Danish Shipping, headed by its Chairman, Niels Smedegaard, met with the President,Theodore Veniamis and members of the UGS Board of Directors and engaged in what was described by both sides as “an open and constructive…

U.S. Seeks 'Pragmatic' Approach to IMO 2020 Rules

The United States is looking for a "pragmatic" approach to the implementation of new marine fuel emission rules that go into effect in 2020, a U.S. Coast Guard official said on Thursday.The United States hopes like-minded countries will put forth a proposal or proposals for a May 2019 meeting of the International Maritime Organization's environmental body, Rear Admiral John Nadeau, assistant commandant for prevention policy for the Coast Guard, said on the sidelines of a conference in New York.Reporting by Stephanie Kelly

Ship Owners Are Scrambling to Install Scrubbers

Ship owners accelerated installations of engine emissions cleaning systems this year ahead of stringent new rules in 2020 which sharply reduce the amount of sulphur ships can emit from the 3.5 percent in current bunker fuel to 0.5 percent, according to a report.Vessel operators can either switch to cleaner, but more expensive, marine gasoil or install scrubbers to filter sulphur from dirtier fuel oil.The looming change in International Maritime Organization (IMO) rules has impacted…

Decarbonization: 34 Maritime CEOs Call for Action

A who’s who list of maritime industry executives have signed on to voice their support for a zero-carbon future in shipping.The not-for-profit foundation the Global Maritime Forum brought together a group of 34 CEOs and industry leaders from across the global maritime sector to sign a call for action and lead the industry in a transition toward decarbonization.To achieve this, these leaders believe the maritime industry needs to accelerate both technological and business model innovation…

Ship Managers Look for Areas to Collaborate

Ship managers gathered in London this week for the Annual General Meeting of their industry trade body – InterManager – where they discussed plans to work together to identify solutions to the challenges facing today’s ship management sector.Addressing the AGM gathering at the London offices of Willis Towers Watson, InterManager President Björn Jebsen said, “Going forward, InterManager members will pool resources and share experience to seek solutions and identify best practices to meet the challenges our sector faces and identify innovative and successful solutions.”He pointed out…

Seafarers’ Mental Health is Focus of New Training Program

KVH Videotel introduced a new training package, “Seafarers Mental Health and Wellbeing,” during the 5th Annual International Shipowning & Shipmanagement Summit in London, and announced that the package will be available free of charge throughout the industry due to the critical importance of the topic.The program was produced in association with the International Seafarers Welfare and Assistance Network (ISWAN) and comprises a short video, facilitator notes, and information booklets…

Hapag-Lloyd to Introduce Cleaner Fuel Charges from 2019

German container shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd said on Monday it is preparing customers for a mechanism to charge more for cleaner fuel starting next year to comply with tighter environmental rules.The Hamburg-based firm said on Monday that it has developed what it will call a marine fuel recovery mechanism (MFR), which it will gradually introduce from Jan.

Interview: Jeong-kie Lee, Chairman, Korean Register & IACS

This month we caught up with Jeong-kie Lee, Chairman and CEO of the Korean Register and also the Chairman of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS), for his insights on the dominant trends moving the maritime industry into the future.The maritime industry has been challenged, to say the least. Today, where do you see challenge? Where do you see opportunity?The maritime industry is in a state of extreme upheaval, with private and public organizations having to deal with a wide range of ever changing…

Saras Invests in New Bunkering Terminal

Italian refiner Saras is constructing a ship-refueling terminal at its Sardinia plant and will market a new, cleaner marine fuel ahead of a major regulatory change in 2020, its chief executive told Reuters.From January 2020, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) will ban ships from using fuels with a sulphur content above 0.5 percent, compared with 3.5 percent now, in one of the biggest changes in the oil market in decades.Refineries around the world have been gearing up for the switch by reducing output of high-sulphur fuel and upgrading plants to maximize production of the cleaner…

ICS Calls for Maritime Training Reform

Esben Poulsson, Chairman of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), has called for International Maritime Organization's (IMO) STCW Seafarer Training Regime to be revised.IMO STCW Convention governs global standards for the training and certification of around two million merchant seafarers.Addressing a Crew Connect Conference in Manila, Philippines Poulson said “It’s now commonplace for employers to routinely provide additional training and assessments prior to the deployment…

Maritime Education to Focus on Quality

As a United Nations agency, International Maritime Organization (IMO)  is firmly committed to the Sustainable Development Goals, one of which is about delivering quality education.A press note from the UN agency said that an important element of its efforts in this regard are its two maritime educational institutions – the World Maritime University (WMU) and the IMO International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI). Both are focussed on delivering high-level education in maritime-related…

Interferry Welcomes EEDI Status Quo for RoRo Vessels

Trade association Interferry has welcomed this week’s decision by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) to uphold previously agreed sector-specific Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) targets for ro-ro passenger and ro-ro freight vessels.The committee’s latest session – MEPC 73 – tightened EEDI requirements for certain ship types, but confirmed that ferries would be among the categories where it is appropriate to retain the original timeline and reduction rates.

Big Oil Set to Cash in on IMO 2020 Rules

The world's biggest oil traders are gearing up to cash in on big disruptions that could hit the shipping fuel market in just over a year due to new U.N.-mandated environmental rules.International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations will cut the limit for sulphur in marine fuels globally from 3.5 percent to 0.5 percent from the start of 2020."We're going to hopefully facilitate the new rules in 2020 by helping out the industry and the participants in general to have a reasonably smooth transition…

Fitch Warns: Shippers' Costs and Capex may Increase

More stringent fuel regulations regarding sulphur content could significantly increase global shipping companies' operating costs and capex needs, says Fitch Ratings in a new report."This may negatively affect their credit quality unless they manage to pass these costs to customers. Many shipping companies have started implementing fuel surcharges to recover costs associated with the new sulphur cap regulation, but their ability to sustain these will depend on market fundamentals…