THE INTERNATIONAL Association of Dry Cargo Shipowners (Intercargo) has submitted proposals to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to review its carbon intensity indicator (CII).
Intercargo is calling for the IMO to review the CII at the upcoming session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 82) in London.
Intercargo says it has identified several key issues with the current CII system, claiming to be drawing on extensive studies that analysed data from over 5600 bulk carriers.
Correlation between increased idle time and poorer CII ratings, “perverse incentives” that encourage ships to run their main engines unnecessarily, inconsistent efficiency indicators, and size-based disparities are the four key issues with the CII underlined by Intercargo.
Following the findings, Intercargo has proposed that the IMO review and adjust the CII to better reflect a vessel’s true energy efficiency, rather than reflecting the efficiency of a port or other factors outside the control of a ship.
Further, it says the IMO should implement a system that incentivises overall emissions reduction, as well as consider a multi-phased approach to refining the CII, starting with solutions based on current data, and progressing to more refined measures as additional data becomes available.
Dimitris Monioudis, vice chair of Intercargo’s technical committee, emphasised the rigour of the analysis underlying these recommendations.
“Our proposals are grounded in a comprehensive examination of verified IMO Data Collection System data from 2022,” Mr Monioudis said.
“This wasn’t just a cursory review – it involved meticulous analysis of over 5600 bulk carriers, conducted in collaboration with three major classification societies: ABS, Bureau Veritas, and DNV.
“This level of scrutiny provides a robust foundation for our recommendations and underscores the urgent need for a review of the current CII system.”
Intercargo chairman Dimitris Fafalios added, “he current CII framework, while well-intentioned, may be leading us down a path which contradicts our ultimate goal of reducing overall emissions”.
“We’re seeing situations where ships might actually increase their total emissions to improve their CII rating.
“This is clearly not the outcome we’re aiming for so it is crucial that we refine this system to ensure it truly incentivises energy efficiency and emissions reduction across our industry.”
Intercargo urged the MEPC’s working group on air pollution and energy efficiency to examine how the CII can be adjusted to better align with the IMO’s decarbonisation goals for global shipping.
The move follows the coordinated announcement in July which saw six of the world’s most significant shipping associations call for the IMO to make changes to the CII, characterising it as counter-productive to the goal of lowering greenhouse gas emissions.
