At its 68th session the Marine Environment Protection Committee of the International Maritime Organization adopted the Polar code
The Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) met for its 68th session from 11 to 15 May 2015 to discuss the polar code and IMO set to adopt Polar code from January 2017.
The MEPC adopted the environmental requirements of the Polar Code and associated MARPOL amendments to make the Code mandatory; adopted amendments to MARPOL related to tanks for oil residues; designated an extension to the Great Barrier Reef and Torres Strait Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA); and furthered its work on implementation of air pollution and energy efficiency measures and the Ballast Water Management Convention.
Norwegian shipbuilder Fjellstrand has built the world’s first electric car ferry for Norled
The world’s first electric car and passenger ferry powered by batteries – the MF Ampere – has entered service in Norway.
The vessel’s owner Norled has started operating the electric car ferry on a route across Sognefjord between Lavik and Oppedal. The fully electric ferry travels six kilometers across the fjord 34 times a day, with each trip taking around 20 minutes.
The ferry, which is 80 meters long and 20 meters wide, is driven by two electric motors, each with an output of 450 kilowatts. It is made exclusively of light aluminum, which makes it only half as heavy as a conventional ferry, despite its ten ton batteries and a capacity for 360 passengers and 120 vehicles.
The IMO and Bangladeshi Government has agreed to collaborate to improve ship recycling standards
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh have signed a landmark agreement to work together to improve safety and environmental ship recycling standards in the country.
A Memorandum of Understanding formalizing the cooperation between the two was signed by Mr Nicolaos Charalambous, Director, Technical Cooperation Division, IMO and Mr Md. Ashadul Islam, Additional Secretary, Economic Relations Division of the Ministry of Finance of the Government of Bangladesh, on 10 April 2014.
Environmental scientists have questioned the effects of the Nicaragua Canal. Image courtesy of South China Morning Post
A consortium of environmental scientists has expressed strong concern about the impact of the controversial Central American Nicaragua Canal. The path of the Nicaragua Canal to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans will cut through Lake Cocibolca (aka Lake Nicaragua), Central America’s main freshwater reservoir and the largest tropical freshwater lake of the Americas; this plan will force the relocation of indigenous populations and impact a fragile ecosystem, including species at risk of extinction, according to Rice University environmental engineer Pedro Alvarez and other members of the consortium.
Alvarez is co-corresponding author of an article that includes 21 co-authors from 18 institutions in the United States and Central and South America who gathered at a multidisciplinary international workshop in Managua, Nicaragua, last November to discuss the project. The paper, titled “Scientists Raise Alarms About Fast Tracking of Transoceanic Canal Through Nicaragua,” has been published by the American Chemical Society journal Environmental Science and Technology.
BIMCO has developed a maritime environmental and efficiency management guide
BIMCO has launched a new, multi-part guidance resource to support ship owners and operators in improving their environmental performance and the efficiency of their ships.
The BIMCO Guide to Maritime Environmental & Efficiency Management, developed in partnership with maritime efficiency specialists Fathom, and supported by ClassNK, provides a resource to facilitate compliance with environmental regulations and assist owners and operators in the development of an environmental and efficiency management system. This first-of-a-kind, comprehensive resource allows ship owners and operators to develop an all-encompassing environmental and efficiency management system.
Marine vessels are a significant source of greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions, including CO2, NOX, SOX, particulate matter, and black carbon, which impact local air quality, human health, and the global climate. Since the record low Arctic sea ice extent recorded in September 2012, policy attention has increasingly focused on strategies for addressing shipping activity in the Arctic and the associated environmental impacts.
South Asia still the preferred end of life location says NGO Shipbreaking Platform. Photo: NGO Shipbreaking Platform
The NGO Shipbreaking Platform has released a complete list of all ship owners and their ships sold for breaking last year and list shows that South Asia still the preferred end of life location.
The Statistics
Out of a total of 1026 ships dismantled globally in 2014, 641 – representing 74% of the total gross tonnage (GT) scrapped – were sold to substandard facilities in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh where ships are dismantled directly on tidal beaches. None of the South Asian yards comply with international standards for safe and environmentally sound ship recycling.
End-of-life ships contain toxic materials such as asbestos, heavy metals, PCBs, oil residues and organic waste within their structures – these pollutants can not be contained or safely removed on a tidal beach. The demolition of the largest movable man-made structures is hazardous and must be conducted in a controlled manner using adequate infrastructure such as cranes as well as necessary health and safety provisions – in 2014 the Platform reported 23 deaths and 66 severe injuries due to accidents such as explosions, workers crushed under steel plates and falling from heights on the South Asian beaches.
A new study says that Alang shipbreaking workers continue to work in appalling conditions. Photo courtesy of The Hindu Business Line
The working and living conditions at the Alang shipbreaking yards in India, remain alarmingly poor, argues a new study published in the Economic & Political Weekly, a well known Indian Social Science journal. The research was commissioned and financed by the National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRC) and was coordinated by Dr Geetanjoy Sahu from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). TISS’ findings are based on intensive field work in Alang from April 2013 to May 2014 including interviews with 300 shipbreaking workers as well as stakeholders from the industry, trade unions and authorities.
The study finds that the “costs to workers’ health and the environment are alarming” while the profit margins for both the yard owners and the contractors providing the labour force are extremely high. Dr Sahu reports that the approximately 35,000 unorganised migrant workers at the Alang shipbreaking yards continue to live in shanty dwellings without adequate facilities for drinking water, sanitation and electricity. The authorities have set up only 12 showers and six toilets. As a result, “workers are forced to defecate in the open”.
The new EU climate emissions law is weak says Transport & Environment
For the first time, all shipping companies calling at EU ports will have to measure and publicly report carbon emissions under a law approved by an overwhelming majority of the European Parliament’s Environment Committee. Sustainable transport group Transport & Environment says that the new EU climate emissions law is weak – it only monitors fuel consumption instead of directly reducing it, and only covers CO2 and not air pollutants like SO2 or NOx – but it can still trigger fuel savings indirectly.
A fully updated edition of the definitive industry guidance on the safe operation of chemical tankers (Tanker Safety Guide) has just been published by the shipping industry’s global trade association, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS).
The new edition of the ICS Tanker Safety Guide (Chemicals) replaces the previous edition issued in 2002. ICS recommends that a copy is carried on board every tanker engaged in the carriage of chemical cargoes, and that copies are also held within shipping company technical departments.
Antarctica Agenda outlined by Australian Government
The Australian Government has given outline plans and details of its 20 year Antarctica Agenda and Strategic Plan. The plan allows for Australia’s future engagement in the region and options to expand Tasmania’s role as the Antarctic science and logistics hub.
The report contains recommendations on a range of key issues, including:
• Protecting Australia’s national interests in Antarctica.
• Supporting and leading national and international Antarctic science.
• Building economic benefits for Tasmania as an Antarctic Gateway city.
• Australia’s future Antarctic station operations, transport and deep field traverse capabilities and support for large field-based research campaigns.
• Effective administration of the Australian Antarctic Territory.
The Tower Power wind turbine project provides for the continuous monitoring of the structural condition of the tower and supporting structure of floating and static offshore wind turbines.
In May, the eleven partners of the collaborative European project Tower Power met in Aix-en-Provence (France) to kick it off. The project aims to develop a remote real time monitoring system for the ageing diagnosis of offshore wind turbine structures. This development meets a real demand from the offshore wind park operators looking for maintenance cost reductions by increasing time between onsite inspections. The project will last 3 years within a budget close to 2million euros.
Coordinated by the cluster Capenergies (FR), the TowerPower project will involve:
• Associations having activities in the wind energy sector, who will carry out the dissemination and exploitation scheme of the innovation: Capenergies (FR), Cylsolar (ES) and Associazione Italiana Prouver non Distruttive – AIPnD (IT).
• Pilot SME’s interested by the technology, who will contribute to orientate the research work: Kingston Computer Consulting, Moniteye, Teknisk Data AS, WLB and TecopySA.
• Research centres in charge of the system design, development and validation: CETIM, Innora and TWI.
