The European Commission (EC) on Tuesday (5 February) sent an “urgent” draft proposal to the European Union (EU) for a new output to draw up harmonised rules on the discharge of liquid effluent from Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems (EGCS).
It seeks to define the areas and conditions under which liquid effluents from EGCS can be discharged into the sea, and to regulate access by ships equipped with such systems.
If approved by the EU on Friday (8 February), the draft will be submitted to the 74th session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee of the IMO in May 2019.
“The sooner uniform and unambiguous regulatory measures are developed and adopted, the better the potential pollution will be controlled and the less significant the economic impacts will be both on industry and administrations,” said the document signed by Director of the General Secretariat of the EC, Jordi Ayet Puigarnau.
“These measures are therefore considered urgent.”
The document suggests the operation of ships installed with EGCS in particular in port waters, coastal areas or ecologically sensitive areas leading to a degradation of the marine environment due to the toxicity of water discharges.
“The potential toxicity of EGCS water discharges, due to the very nature of the pollutant substances present in the exhaust gases, and the increase in the number of these systems require careful consideration to avoid irreversible pollutions of the marine environment,” it states.
It points to a GESAMP report indicating a potential risk to harm the environment with more ships discharging EGCS effluents in a wide variety of harbour configurations and a recommendation by experts that a generalised marine environmental risk assessment should be developed.
“The composition and harmfulness to the marine environment of liquid effluents discharged by the majority of these systems into ports and sensitive sea areas lead States to take local or regional restriction or prohibition measures,” it adds.
“It is proposed that the Committee considers the inclusion of a new output in its programme of work in order to define harmonized rules on the areas and modalities for the discharge of such effluents.”
The full draft document IMO – Union submission to be submitted to the 74th session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 74) of the IMO in London from 13 – 17 May 2019 concerning a proposal for a new output to draw up harmonised rules on the discharge of liquid effluent from Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems can be downloaded here.
Photo credit: © European Union, 2019
Published: 8 February, 2019
Parties have reached an amicable settlement at the Tokyo District Court on Tuesday.
Dang Van Hanh is the first person in the Shell MGO bunker heist case to be sentenced over misappropriation.
The Fri Kvam, Pacific Finder, and Seago Istanbul were held at various ports in August, show data.
‘Ship movement in the Rejang River will come to a halt and the economy will be disastrously affected if the move is implemented,’ said Association President.
Targets Murmansk Shipping Company for 8.3 million rubles claim at Murmansk Arbitration Court.
Captain who bought about 20,000 litres of fuel oil from a vessel and was unable to present documents.
Garren Hay will be responsible for sales of the PANOLIN range of Environmentally Acceptable Lubricants for the Singapore sole distributor agent Gealubes Consulting & Trading Pte Ltd.
Universal Alliance, BMS United, Digiland International, Goodwood Associates, Southernpec (Singapore), and Taigu Energy were involved in alleged circular fictitious trades of fuel oil during July 2015.
Bunker orders of ISO 8217:2010 spec LS 380 cSt 0.5% for Nord Gemini, Nord Titan, Ocean Rosemary, and Luzern were placed through global commodities trading and logistics house Trafigura Pte Ltd.
While Covid-19 concerns are important, Captain Rahul Choudhuri was quick to note this does not mean bunker fuel related issues have indeed disappeared from the shipping sector.
‘Therefore, representing the players of the Malaysian bunker industry, we sincerely hope that this matter can be refined and reconsidered immediately so that all parties benefit together,’ says communication.
Maureen Poh, a Director of Helmsman LLC, offers plain practical tips on the differences between US and EU Sanctions and shares some thoughts on what companies could do if they are potentially exposed to sanctioned entities.
