Regulatory Update – September 2016

Welcome to the first of what is intended to be a series of regular bulletins from the IMCA team to keep members informed about regulatory developments. These bulletins will be kept short and to the point. Rather than providing detailed evaluations of new regulations and other activities, they will raise awareness and point to more comprehensive sources of information where necessary.

As a general comment, today’s regulatory agenda is being increasingly driven by environmental issues. Shipping is under increasing pressure to lower greenhouse gas emissions and to contribute to global efforts to counter anthropogenic climate change. This pressure is unlikely to abate, on the contrary shipping should expect these pressures to increase.

Some of the work items at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) may well affect IMCA members significantly, especially those who are not yet prepared, such as the entry into force of the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water & Sediments. Whilst some of these items – such as the IMO’s efforts to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases – appear to have limited immediate impact for our members, they have the potential to profoundly alter the face of shipping in the longer term.

Looking beyond IMO, the United States and European Union both continue to develop a range of new regulations, many of which will affect IMCA members. Some of these initiatives are not fully aligned with IMO requirements. IMCA believes that IMO is the most appropriate forum to develop regulations for international shipping and that regional and national regulations applicable to international shipping should be aligned with those agreed at IMO.

IMCA’s new Regulatory & Policy Affairs Team

IMCA has increased its policy and regulatory capability. Eleni Antoniadou has recently joined us as a Policy & Regulatory Affairs Adviser. Eleni has Masters Degrees in both international law and maritime law and brings a wealth of legal knowledge and expertise, which will enhance IMCA’s capability to support and represent members’ interests.

After a summer break we have now entered a busy period at IMO with meetings of both the Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC) and Marine Safety Committee (MSC). Both meetings have packed agendas and IMCA will be attending and actively participating in both. The next regulatory update will bring members news of the outcomes of the meetings.

Note – for those unfamiliar with the nomenclature of IMO meetings, when used in this regulatory update and in IMO documents, the abbreviation of the committee or sub-committee used is followed by a number which indicates the session number. So, MEPC 69 refers to the 69th session of the Marine Environmental Protection Committee; MSC 96 to the 96th session of the Marine Safety Committee etc.

In this update

Please download the PDF of this regulatory update, which covers:

1. Ballast water
2. Greenhouse gas emissions and global warming
3. Emissions to air
4. Carriage of personnel
5. Vessels and equipment
6. Security
7. Maritime Labour Convention
8. European affairs
9. US affairs
10. Other regions