Charterer's Energy Initiative Faulted by Intercargo

Recent decision by three large charterers only to use relatively energy efficient vessels attacked by bulk carrier owner's group Intercargo.

Cargill, Huntsman Corporation and UNIPEC UK, who together charter over 350 million tonnes of commodities annually, said that that they would only charter the more efficient vessels operating in the shipping market, claiming that it was the first such commitment to reduce the existing fleet carbon emissions.

Intercargo responded by calling for further dialogue “to ensure that charterers remain connected with on-going environmental IMO discussions.”
A statement said: “Intercargo believes that failure to appreciate the improved energy efficiency legislation work already in progress will marginalise and render Charterers’ proposals obsolete before implementation.”

Intercargo's secretary general Rob Lomas said: “We appreciate charterers’ attempts to supplement their existing methods of selecting and legally contracting vessels on the basis of fuel efficiency, and this is supportable.”

But he continued, "the systems currently being promoted are inaccurate as they may not use the contractually agreed existing fuel consumption figures, and the commonly known ‘refrigerator rating system’ is overly simplistic and has yet to be cleared by IMO.”