The Imo Review News

Shipping must engage with the decarbonization realities that lie ahead by changing the way it crafts maritime legislation to reflect its place in the interconnected, interdependent world economy, says Eero Lehtovaara, Head of Regulatory & Public Affairs, ABB Marine & Ports.ABB Marine & Ports Head of Regulatory & Public Affairs, Eero Lehtovaara has carved out an unusual - and possibly unique - role in the maritime industry over recent years, as a ‘stakeholder’ simultaneously mindful of the perspectives of owners…

There has been little reaction by way of statements or position papers from marine fuel lubricant manufacturers to the IMO MEPC70 proposals for a global fuel sulfur content cap of 0.5 percent by 2020 but they are fully aware of the implications of the proposed regulations and are taking what could be termed a ‘pragmatic approach’ to fuel regulation compliance. Marine lubricant suppliers have avoided getting involved in the debate as to whether the IMO MEPC70 proposals to reduce permissible marine fuel sulfur content to 0.5 percent or less is good…

Shipboard testing to be conducted on the vessel APL England as NEI takes the next step towards full USCG Type Approval for its Venturi Oxygen Stripping (VOS) Ballast Water Treatment System. NEI Treatment Systems announced that the container vessel APL England will be used for the shipboard testing phase of their VOS Ballast Water Treatment System (BWTS), to begin in the early summer of 2015. The APL England is a 67.9K DWT container vessel, trading between China and multiple ports on the U.S. West Coast. The vessel utilizes a VOS system operating at 1,250 m3/hr., and was installed seven years ago. The retrofit project was completed as an in-service “riding” installation.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has agreed to use the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) proposals as the basis for the review of the IMO Guidelines for vessels with dynamic positioning (DP) systems (MSC/Circ.645). The review will be taken forward by  an IMO intersessional correspondence group that will further develop the draft, with a view to finalizing it at the next meeting of the IMO Ship Systems and Equipment (SSE) sub-committee, in 2016. “IMO’s circular 645 is the established international standard for DP systems.

A fully updated edition of the definitive industry guidance on the safe operation of chemical tankers has just been published by the shipping industry’s global trade association, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS). The new edition of the ICS Tanker Safety Guide (Chemicals) replaces the previous edition issued in 2002. ICS recommends that a copy is carried on board every tanker engaged in the carriage of chemical cargoes, and that copies are also held within shipping company technical departments.

Shipping legislators are close to agreeing a deadline for eliminating single-hulled tankers, a pollution hazard to the world's oceans and coastlines. "The deadline is 2015, but there's lots of ifs and buts," said a source, who sits a working group of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), shipping's self-regulated legislative body. "Now we'll have to put it before the committee and see what reaction we get," the source said. If the 113 committee members approve the deal hammered out by the working group of 40, then all single-hulled tankers will have to undergo major structural enhancements or be scrapped by 2015. The source on the working group said a difficult but vital step would be getting the approval of IMO's European Union (EU) members…