The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) states it is motivated by initiatives made by IMO Member States to deal with so of the difficulties in advance of the worldwide 0.5% sulphur gas cap policies working on 1 January 2020.

The ICS’ comments follows an essential IMO functioning team conference recently to which the market sent a variety of useful propositions to assist make sure smooth and also constant application.

“Although there is still much work to be done, last week’s IMO discussions were positive,” claimed ICS Secretary General,Peter Hinchliffe “Most important is that governments have acknowledged the safety concerns raised by industry about the use of compliant fuels including possible incompatibility. We are pleased that Member States have accepted their obligations under MARPOL to ensure that fuel is suitable for use and will not pose a safety risk to the ship or the crew, and that IMO has now agreed that these critical issues should be urgently addressed by the next IMO Maritime Safety Committee in December 2017.”

ICS states it likewise considerably invites an essential declaration made by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to recently’s IMO functioning team.

June Story: Shipping Associations Say IMO Member States Must Progress on Key Sulphur Cap Issues at Critical Meeting

“ISO announced that the existing industry standard for marine fuel oils, ISO 8217, already addresses the new 0.5% fuel blends that will be used by many ships to comply in 2020. ISO also advised that it will be providing guidance on the application of the standard to these new blended fuels.”

“In view of recent concerns, ISO’s confirmation that no revision of the standards is needed prior to 2020 is very welcome as is ISO’s recognition that existing tools to assess compatibility are inadequate and its reassurance that ISO is actively seeking solutions before the 2020 deadline.”

Hinchliffe included “It will be vital for shipowners and crews to have confidence that new fuels will indeed be safe and compatible before taking delivery, which they will need to start doing several months in advance of January 2020.”

ICS has actually likewise invited the advancement by IMO, as recommended by the market, of a theme for ship-specific ‘Implementation Plans’, which will certainly be embraced by the Marine Environment Protection Committee in October.

“This template will help ship operators to prepare for implementation and demonstrate good faith in doing everything possible to ensure compliance, which will be important if compliant or compatible fuel is not available in every port during the first few weeks of implementation. Throughout last week’s meeting, the industry stressed the need for a pragmatic approach to enforcement in the event of any initial teething problems that are beyond the control of ship operators, and IMO has agreed that Port State Control authorities may take account of a ship’s Implementation Plan when verifying compliance.” Mr Hinchliffe clarified.

ICS states that strong progression was likewise made by Member States on draft standards for constant application, gas oil non-availability coverage, confirmation concerns and also modifications to the standards for Port State Control.

ICS is likewise pleased by the arrangement to use the 95% self-confidence element of ISO 4259 to aboard gas oil examples made use of for validating conformity, while preserving the existing outright 0.50% limitation for the MARPOL example which is taken throughout bunkering. ICS states this ought to assist stay clear of prospective circumstances where the example taken throughout bunkering obtains an appropriate examination result just for the in-use gas to be discovered non-compliant.

“More work is obviously needed to fully address the important issues raised by the industry, but the usual IMO spirit of co-operation has moved us all significantly closer to achieving smooth implementation in January 2020.” claimedPeter Hinchliffe “During last week’s IMO meeting, it was again made clear that there is absolutely no possibility that the legal date of implementation will be postponed. It is therefore of the utmost importance that shipping companies and charterers proceed with their implementation planning without delay.”

Taking account of the choices made by IMO Member States recently, consisting of the design template for ship-specific Implementation Plans, ICS is currently creating in-depth advice on application of the worldwide sulphur cap, which it will certainly provide to shipowners using its participant nationwide shipowner organizations throughout the following couple of weeks.