Q 9. What eye-catching plans and policies is IMO currently working on that will be released in the next three to five years?
A. Again, this is very subjective but undoubtedly one policy area that has already generated a great deal of interest, and will continue to do so, is IMO’s work to mitigate the harmful effect of ships’ exhaust emissions.
You can think of this as two separate but connected policy areas. One concerns reducing pollutants which can be harmful to human health and which are inherently linked to the sulphur content of ships’ fuel and also the emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOX) as a consequence of fuel oil combustion. There is already a global cap of 3.50% on the sulphur content of ships’ fuel oil, and a limit of 0.10% in certain designated areas. In 2020, the global cap will be reduced to 0.50% in a move experts have estimated will help save hundreds of thousands of premature deaths. Standards for NOX emissions from marine diesel engines have been made more rigorous, the strongest standards, like for sulphur oxides, being in designated emission control areas.
IIMS wishes to thank IMO for their openness and willingness to share information and details for this exclusive 70th birthday interview.
Get involved with IMO’s events in 2018 to celebrate their 70th To mark its 70th
anniversary, IMO is hosting a number of events throughout 2018. March 2018: A ceremony to mark the date when the IMO Convention was adopted will be held at IMO Headquarters.
15 May 2018: A high level forum will be held at IMO Headquarters to discuss the Organization’s history, its future challenges and role within the global trade in a changing world. 25 June 2018: The annual Day of the Seafarer. September 2018: World Maritime Day celebrated at IMO Headquarters and around the world.
During 2018: In conjunction with the International Congress of Maritime Museums a travelling exhibition will tour participating maritime museums.
Full details about these and other IMO events in 2018 can be found on their website at
http://bit.ly/2FX9LZ0 anniversary
IMO Member States are also expected, this year, to adopt an initial strategy on greenhouse gas emissions, following the 2016 approval of a “roadmap” on this subject. This would be an important step leading to the adoption of a revised comprehensive IMO strategy on reduction of GHG emissions from ships in 2023. IMO has already adopted mandatory energy efficiency measures for ships, which entered into force in 2013.
Another “eye-catching” topic in the coming years is likely to be autonomous ships. In June last year, the IMO Member States decided to include this issue on the agenda of the Maritime Safety Committee, initially in the form of a scoping exercise to determine how their safe, secure and environmentally sound operation might be introduced in IMO instruments. So clearly the Member States see this as a development that needs to be addressed now. Submissions on the subject were invited to the next session of the Committee, in May this year.
Q 10. There are some hugely disruptive changes currently underway in the maritime world and more likely to follow. The most obvious example, as you have previously mentioned in your previous answer, is autonomous shipping which is moving inexorably in one direction it seems, but also the development and evolvement of green technologies and initiatives. How well placed is IMO to respond to such radical change?
A. Given its Membership of 172 countries (ranging from the most advanced economies to small island developing states), the additional input of more than 60 Intergovernmental organizations and more than 75 non-governmental organizations (representing a diverse range of interests including the maritime industry, seafarer groups and environmental organizations) it is hard to imagine any organization being better placed than IMO to respond to the changing landscape ahead.
The Report • March 2018 • Issue 83 | 37
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76
