Workshop on Clean Shipping in Red Sea

Measures for preventing air pollution from ships as well as energy efficiency requirements for ships are in the spotlight at a training event for eight countries in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and the Gulf.

The participating countries are Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan and United Arb Emirates.

The regional workshop in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (17-19 September) has covered International Maritime Organization (IMO) 's MARPOL Annex VI treaty, which limits the main air pollutants contained in ships exhaust gas, including sulphur oxides and nitrous oxides, and includes energy-efficiency measures aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from ships.

MARPOL Annex VI also prohibits deliberate emissions of ozone depleting substances.

The workshop also focused on the ship fuel data collection system, in force since March 2018, which requires ships of 5,000 gross tonnage and above to collect consumption data for each type of fuel oil they use.

The training was organized by IMO and PERSGA – the Regional Organization for the Conservation of the Environment of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

PERSGA, established under UN Environment's Regional Seas Program, is a long-standing IMO partner in work to support sustainable governance of regional seas.