Arora calls for short-term/long-term plans

The Indian Register of Shipping (IRClass), a leading ship classification society, recently hosted a seminar in which industry stakeholders discussed the impending 2020 IMO fuel sulphur regulation and the initial IMO Strategy on reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ships.

Held at IRClass’ head office in Mumbai, the one-day ‘Fuel 2020 & GHG Emission’ session drew participation from ship owners, ship operators, consultants, marine engine suppliers and bunker suppliers.

In his welcome address, Vijay Arora, Joint Managing Director of IRClass, spoke about the rapid advancements in marine fuel technology and the need for both short-term and long-term plans to implement IMO’s GHG emissions strategy.

He also mentioned that the industry today faces challenges, both regulatory and technical in nature, which need to be deliberated by all stakeholders to gain insights.

Guest-of-Honour Capt. Ashok Mahapatra, former Director of IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee, highlighted in his keynote address the hitherto lack of clarity amongst ship owners, underwriters and charterers in dealing with non-compliant fuel post-sulphur limit.

The seminar featured presentations by subject matter experts from IRClass, Reliance Industries, Great Eastern Shipping, Cummins India and Indian Oil Corporation, said an IR Class news release on 28 May 2019.

The presentations provided various perspectives – operational, technical, legal and commercial – regarding both fuel sulphur limit compliance and GHG emissions.

The seminar discussed the disposal of noncompliant fuel, the availability of compliant fuel and the development of joint industrial guidelines for shipowners.

Speakers at an industry panel agreed on the need for ongoing multi-stakeholder dialogue to pre-empt and address industry challenges of an increasingly multi-faceted nature.

Arun Sharma, Executive Chairman of IRClass, said: “It is important that we include stakeholders from the supply side, such as fuel suppliers and equipment manufacturers, when debating how the industry should respond to the IMO sulphur limit, we are likely to see a shift in our energy future where LNG, fuel cells and methanol will take a more prominent role.” Fiinews.com