IACS Council Elects new Chair

The IACS Council met in Gdansk, Poland, last week for its 87th session (C87) and elected Roberto Cazzulo of RINA as the incoming Chair of IACS as from 1 Jan 2024.

C87 IACS Chair, Nick Brown of Lloyd’s Register, congratulated Cazzulo on his election, and responding, Cazzulo said “It is an honour for me to be elected, and I look forward to building on the excellent work done by Nick Brown in ensuring IACS is well positioned to meet the environmental and technological challenges faced by shipping.”

Decarbonisation was high on the agenda at C87. The Council welcomed the recent decision by IMO to develop a framework for the safe decarbonisation of shipping, the result of a two-year effort by IACS to ensure that critical safety concerns were not overlooked in the collective drive to lower carbon emissions as far and as quickly as possible.

In support of the work at IMO, C87 also noted the rapid progress being made by the Safe Decarbonisation Panel with regards to alternative fuels and new technologies along with the provision of expert input to a wide range of industry and regulatory forums addressing CO2 reduction measures.

C87 further agreed to sign a Letter of Intent with the Singapore MPA to work with them to accelerate the safe and practical implementation of low or zero carbon technologies, through increased collaboration and information sharing.

C87 also committed to optimising its various working groups engaged in the digital transformation of the industry to ensure IACS plays its full role in supporting industry on this journey.

C87 recognised the potentially significant impact the EU’s Maritime Safety Package could have on their work as Recognised Organisations and committed to working constructively with the Commission on its development. C87 also reviewed IACS’ ongoing contributions to EU environmental legislation stemming from the ‘Fit for 55 package’ and particularly around the inclusion of shipping in the EU ETS and the Fuel EU Maritime Regulation.