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Bimco calls for action on CO2 data collection, ballast water

Bimco calls for action on CO2 data collection, ballast water
Shipping association Bimco has identified two ‘top priorities’ for IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) meeting next week (April 18-22, 2016) taking place in London.

First is ‘approving a mandatory data collection system for fuel used on ships in international trade’, it says, while the second is ‘tangible progress on the revision of the [IMO] G8 guidelines  for approval of ballast water management system.’

Approving a data collection system represents the first of three agreed steps on further greenhouse gas (GHG)  actions for shipping, explains Bimco, and is necessary for the other two, namely determining how much CO2 the shipping industry may emit and establishing further measures to reduce emissions, if needed, and what they should be.

‘Knowing how much CO2 is emitted by ships is crucial before beginning a detailed discussion and reaching future agreements on emissions targets,’ comments Bimco’s deputy secretary general Lars Robert Pedersen.

‘The data on emissions – in combination with a target – is needed to determine if and what further measures are needed by the marine industry.’

Bimco also wants to see MEPC finalise the revision of the G8 guidelines (first adopted in October 2008) which it says is ‘urgently needed by manufacturers, shipowners and regulators’.

First adopted in October 2008, the guidelines cover such areas as technical specifications, approval and certification procedures, installation requirements, and installation survey and commissioning procedures for ballast water management systems but are ‘not yet adequate for IMO approved systems to consistently meet the requirements of the Ballast Water Convention’ expected to enter into force before end 2017, Bimco argues.

‘Presently, IMO approved systems may not always live up to the required standards under real operating conditions onboard ships,’ says Pedersen, ‘and no such systems are presently available that are approved to the much more stringent USCG approval standard.’