THE INTERNATIONAL Maritime Organization’s Marine Environment Protection Committee is meeting next week in London. It is expected to adopt an upgraded IMO greenhouse gas emissions strategy.
“The revised IMO GHG Strategy will contain concrete greenhouse gas reduction targets for the sector and is expected to outline a basket of technical and economic measures to be developed to set global shipping on an ambitious path towards phasing out greenhouse gas emissions,” the IMO said in a statement ahead of the meeting.
During opening remarks at the Intersessional Working Group on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships, which is ongoing this week, IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim said it is time to work together on increasing the level of ambition for 2050 and establish the intermediate check points by 2030 and 2040.
He said these check points would pave the way to meet the revised vision whilst duly considering the impact and needs of developing states.
“Twenty twenty-three is IMO’s year of decisive climate action,” he said.
“Together we will make MEPC 80 next week another historic moment for IMO, showcasing to the world a determined maritime decarbonisation strategy which will ensure a truly global level-playing-field for international shipping.”
Other items on the agenda for the MEPC 80 meeting include energy efficiency of ships, ballast water management, biofouling management, designation of a “particularly sensitive sea area” in the north-western Mediterranean Sea, underwater noise, marine litter, and other matters.
Ship-to-ship transfers and “dark fleet” tankers
The meeting is also slated to discuss clandestine ship-to-ship oil transfers in the open ocean.
In April Australia, Canada, Denmark, Spain, Ukraine, the UK and the US submitted a document and a draft assembly resolution for the MEPC meeting next week, outlining the environmental risks and concerns about liability and compensation regimes regarding an “increase” in ship-to-ship transfers at sea.
The document says in recent years, there has been an increase in the frequency of ship-to-ship crude oil transfers in waters, including by ships that had turned off satellite transponders and used other methods of obfuscation.
“These transfers undermine the rules-based international order and increase the risk of pollution to nearby coastal states. This threatens global efforts to prevent pollution from ships and undermines the shared liability and compensation regime set out in the 1992 Civil Liability Convention, the 1992 Fund Convention and Supplementary Fund Protocol,” the document reads.
“Furtive ship-to-ship transfers at sea also undermine the fundamental principle of the ‘polluter-pays’ principle if the ships and shipowners involved cannot be identified and held liable for damage caused by the oil carried onboard its ship. This places an increased risk on coastal States and the IOPC Funds, as well as other potentially relevant regimes such as the International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage.”
It also says the fraudulent registration of ships and other deceptive shipping practices are “serious threats to the safety and security of international shipping”.
The document said flag states should consider requiring that vessels notify the state when they are engaged in mid-ocean transfer operations.
It also says coastal states should monitor ship-to-ship operations in their territorial sea or exclusive economic zone and take “appropriate action” when cases of non-compliance are found.
