Page 2 - NF 2019 Q1-2

NEWSFLASH Q1 - 2 2019

IMO GHG Strategy Sulphur Cap

Work on the IMO GHG Strategy continues and to date some The Sulphur Cap taking regulatory effect on 1 January
progress has been made regarding agreement on the need 2020 is an issue of great concern to all of Industry. Again,
for short and long term measures. One of the most interest- the regulatory framework of shipping has failed in delivery
ing developments during MEPC 74, was the de-politization of a workable regulation despite strong and repeated
of the issue as the major oil producing countries agreed to warnings from Industry.
move forward. For many of our members, the issue of availability is al-
As some members may have picked up through media, the ready becoming crucial as to be able to comply with the
MEPC 74 was under some pressure from environmental new rules on 1 January next year.
groups and delegates were met by demonstrations outside
the IMO building on the first No Experience Building Phase
day of the meeting. As was finally decided on at MEPC 74, there
To read more about the work will be no formal “experience building phase”
on the GHG Strategy, please as had been urged by Industry.
follow this link: IMO Website It has been argued that PSC will initially take a
on the GHG Strategy. pragmatic view on the issue of not sailing on
compliant fuel. However, this cannot be
The bulk of the work on the
GHG Strategy Is carried out in banked upon, and members are strongly ad-
vised not to do so.
the so called Intersessional
Working Group (ISWG) and the Non-availability and FONARS
discussions are currently fo- The issue of availability of fuels has been dis-
cusing on short and long term cussed in various forums and not the least at
measures. the IMO. The fuel supply industry has continu-
Needless to say, how these measures are developed are ously argued that availability will not be an issue, but ra-
highly important to the shipping industry and as has been ther that fuel will be available.
previously mentioned in earlier NewsFlashes, the BSA is at Ships are required to make every effort to obtain compli-
the very centre of discussions through our Chairman who is ant fuel. In cases where fuel is truly not available, shipown-
chairing discussions with the Round Table Group (ICS, ers should submit a FONAR as to report the issue. Howev-
BIMCO, INTERTANKO, INTERCARGO and World Shipping er, there are yet instructions to be presented on how ex-
Council). It should be noted that the BSA is the only national actly FONARs are intended to be used in cases of non-
association to have full access to these discussions. availability of compliant fuels.
Short Term Measures Compatible Fuels - Availability
Current discussions revolve around various measures such as It has been confirmed by the ISO that the general require-
Emissions Trading, Market Based Measures and Operational ments of ISO 8217:2017 cover the expected 0.50% Smax
Efficiency Indexing. The Industry is aligned in its opposition fuels in the same way as they cover existing fuels. Howev-
toward these measures, arguing that the most efficient way er, the ISO standard does not guarantee a consistent quali-
to reduce CO2 emissions from shipping is to look at technical ty level of compliant
solutions. fuels. This is of major
Such solutions may be a SEEMP, or as proposed by concern to shipowners
Industry, as Super SEEMP. Also in the discussions are and as can be seen on
such issues as some form of speed “regulation”. The the picture to the right,
latter is often termed “speed reduction”. It is how- all five samples of fuels
ever very important to use the term “speed optimi- are compliant 0.50%
sation” as a general reduction of speed of all of Smax fuels, yet they all
shipping should be avoided. have very different char-
Long Term Measures acteristics, ranging from
Looking to the future, reduction of CO2 requires different flash points,
some major changes to the energy source(s) of ship- storage temperature
ping. It is quite clear that to achieve a 50% reduc- requirements, etc. It
tion of CO2 emissions by 2050, energy sources oth- should also be noted
that none of these fuels
er than carbon based fuel will have to be used. can be mixed, hence requiring some very thorough plan-
There are already various potential technologies to be used, ning before bunkering.
such as batteries, hydrogen, ammonia and nuclear solutions.
However, as most will be aware, there is no one clear technol- In short, although compliant fuels may be available, there
ogy to be picked as a one fits all. There are also issues with is great concern that the very different qualities of fuel
safety as well as large scale commissioning - what may seem will cause damage to fuel systems and engines, as well as
promising in a laboratory environment must be possible to be the cause of accidents.
commission on a very large scale. ICS Guidelines
It is widely recognised that more research and development ICS has recently published updated the Guidance to Ship-
is needed to achieve this. Currently it is being discussed to ping Companies and Crews on Preparing for Compliance
set up a fund for financing such development work as part of with the 2020 ‘Global Sulphur Cap’for Ships’ Fuel Oil in Ac-
the long term solutions. cordance with MARPOL Annex VI. This is well worth read-
ing by everyone both onboard and ashore.