NGO Shipbreaking Platform Pushes for Safe Recycling of FSO Safer
The NGO Shipbreaking Platform has called for the safe and environmentally friendly recycling of the FSO Safer, currently being salvaged off the coast of Yemen.The UNDP is looking for a destination for the FSO’s recycling, and the Platform is calling on the Dutch government, one of the biggest donors to the Stop Red Sea Oil Pollution operation, to assist UNDP in identifying a suitable recycling facility. The Netherlands has shown leadership in preventing the environmental disaster an oil spill from the FSO Safer would have caused, says the Platform, along with Dutch company Boskalis, via its subsidiary SMIT Salvage, which has been tasked with the removal of the oil from the FSO.Referring to Dutch involvement in the Stop Red Sea Oil Pollution operation…
IMO Fights Against Marine Litter
The damaging build-up of plastic litter in the oceans is increasingly recognised as a major threat to the global environment. Harrowing images of marine wildlife being trapped by plastic litter, or even ingesting it, are becoming tragically familiar. International Maritime Organization (IMO)'s long track record of engagement in the fight against this insidious form of pollution was reinforced last year, when its governing Assembly of Member States placed the issue of marine plastic litter from shipping on the agenda of its leading environmental technical body, the Marine Environment Protection Committee. IMO Member Governments have been invited to submit concrete proposals about developing an action plan on the subject to the Committee's next meeting, in October.
ATCM Reaffirm Commitment to Ban on Mining in Antarctic
The 29 countries party to the Antarctic Treaty unanimously agreed today to a resolution at the 39th Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) stating their “firm commitment to retain and continue to implement…as a matter of highest priority” the ban on mining activities in the Antarctic, which is part of the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (also called the Madrid Protocol). The resolution was initiated by the United States to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the 1991 signing of the Protocol. In addition to commemorating the 25th Anniversary, the Resolution is in part a response to inaccurate media reports that the Protocol or the Antarctic Treaty “expire” in 2048, when in fact this is only a date at which a review of the Protocol could be requested.
WMD Sea Law Not Yet Ratified
A United Nations treaty designed to stop the carriage of weapons of mass destruction by sea has not been ratified by a single country, including the United States, despite its being formally agreed a year ago. The shortcoming emerged as world powers this week grappled with enforcing U.N. sanctions on North Korea that include the inspection of seaborne cargo and possible ship searches in international waters. Countries party to U.N. International Maritime Organisation (IMO) laws agreed to the new convention in London last October. The Suppression of Unlawful Acts (SUA) at sea convention makes it illegal for merchant ships to carry WMD and engage in acts of terrorism on the high seas.
