The IMO’s upcoming 2020 global emissions regulation is rising considerable unease among global shippers/Beneficial Cargo Owners (BCOs) and freight forwarders, a survey by shipping consultancy Drewry shows. Particular uncertainty and concern was expressed about carriers’ methods of fuel cost recovery with more than half of all respondents (56%) stating that they did not consider their service providers’ existing approaches as either fair or transparent. Furthermore, 4 in every

The current debate at the IMO and MEPC is attempting to focus on reducing the volumes of CO2 the escape from the exhausts of commercial ships. Many attempts have been made in recent years in this regard including installing scrubbers on the ship’s funnels, turning ship’s main engines off in port and burning lower carbonized fuel in certain coastal waters. The current debate arises from the so-called Paris Agreement on climate change which was endorsed by most countries but pr

Economic stability and sustainable development can be driven by an integrated approach to the maritime sector, including ports, maritime security and facilitation of maritime traffic. Joined-up government policies covering the whole of the maritime sector are critical for the port sector to flourish. These were among key messages delivered by IMO’s Chris Trelawny, who was speaking at the Port Security Technology conference, London, United Kingdom (20 June), which provided an

Air pollution from ships is a serious problem that doesn’t get enough attention. Kelvin Boot explains how environmental science can help ensure industry plays by the rules. Europe has an estimated 80,000 ship-visits to ports each year, and many of those ships burn cheap, low-quality fuel that creates polluting exhaust emissions, containing sulphur, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter. This thick, dirty, tar-like fuel oil is what’s left behind after the crude oil has been r