Imo News

The IMO will reconvene in London on March 31 and April 1, for a crucial two-day Intersessional Working Group on Greenhouse Gas (ISWG-GHG 19) meeting. The meeting sets the stage for a decision on a GHG pricing mechanism by the Marine Environment Protection Committee 83 (MEPC 83) on April 7-11 on the future of shipping’s climate responsibility.The 6PAC+ alliance, a group of Pacific, African and Caribbean States, backed by major allies, emphasizes that this meeting is a make-or-break moment for securing a universal GHG levy of $150 per tonne of CO2-equivalent.

During its 49th session in London from March 10 to 14, IMO’s Facilitation Committee (FAL) outlined a work plan for developing the IMO Strategy on Maritime Digitalization, which is set to be adopted by the Organization’s highest governing body – the IMO Assembly – by the end of 2027. The strategy will span different areas of IMO’s work, fostering a fully interconnected, harmonized and automated global maritime sector.To guide this process, the Facilitation Committee established a Correspondence Group to define the strategy’s scope, key objectives and implementation framework.

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and the Comité Maritime International (CMI) have launched an updated campaign for promoting maritime treaty ratification as there is a long-standing concern that many governments are not ratifying important international conventions despite their adoption at IMO and other regulatory fora.The campaign highlights the international maritime Conventions which ICS and CMI believe are significantly important for governments to ratify as a matter of urgency.

Uncertainty about the scale and nature of the IMO’s proposed carbon levy is holding back investment in shipping, according to the Christopher J. Wiernicki,  Chairman and CEO of American Bureau of Shipping (ABS).“A carbon levy is a wild card. It will all depend on how it is implemented and enforced. There’s a huge question mark over whether this will deliver for the industry and there is much still to be decided,” said Wiernicki.Wiernicki expressed his concerns during an appearance at CERAWeek energy conference.“Will the levy be set at $18, $100 or even $150 per ton?

ABS has provided guidance on the recent amendments to the International Code for the Safe Carriage of Grain in Bulk (Grain Code) that will become effective on January 1, 2026.Originally adopted in 1991, the Grain Code specified loading conditions for grain transport. However, these conditions did not account for all practical loading scenarios, particularly concerning "specially suitable compartments."The IMO has now defined a new loading condition which addresses compartments that are partly filled in the way of the hatch opening with ends untrimmed…

There were no major breakthroughs in the on-going discussions about a universal levy at the IMO's Intersessional Working Group on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships (ISWG-GHG 18) last week. Any GHG emissions pricing mechanism is going to mean big change for the industry, and a lot of different sectors within shipping will be impacted.InterManager has pointed out, in a paper submitted to the next meeting of the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC83 in April)…

Ship managers have expressed concerns about the International Maritime Organization’s future net-zero framework and have suggested concrete changes to make the proposals more effective.Acting on behalf of the global ship management sector, InterManager, the international association for ship managers, has submitted a proposal to the next meeting of the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC83) to suggest essential changes.The submission warns that, in its current form…

The IMO’s Sub-Committee on Human Element, Training and Watchkeeping (HTW) has agreed on draft interim generic guidelines for training seafarers working on ships powered by alternative fuels and new technologies. These draft guidelines will be submitted to the Maritime Safety Committee for approval in June 2025.Meeting in London from February 10 to 14, the Sub-Committee agreed that such guidance should be provided through both:• generic interim guidelines applicable across the whole industry and relevant to all alternative fuels and new technologies…

International efforts to curb GHG emissions from shipping took a step forward as the IMO's Intersessional Working Group on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships (ISWG-GHG 18) concluded its latest round of discussions on Friday.The IMO's 2023 GHG Reduction Strategy commits Member States to adopting mid-term measures to reduce GHG emissions from ships in late 2025, including:• a technical element, namely a goal-based marine fuel standard regulating the phased reduction of a marine fuel's GHG intensity; and  • an economic element involving a maritime GHG emissions pricing mechanism.

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has issued its annual Flag State Performance Table for 2024/25, voicing concerns about four newcomers.The Table provides an analysis of the extent to which flag State administrations adhere to their responsibilities to follow global standards and regulations governing safety, environmental protection and the employment conditions of seafarers – as adopted by the IMO and ILO.The latest ICS Table confirms that the vast majority of the global shipping industry is registered with flag States that strictly enforce global regulations…

Guy Platten, Secretary General of the International Chamber of Shipping, has released a statement ahead of the UN IMO Intersessional Working Group on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships (ISWG-GHG 18) calling for a levy-based GHG pricing mechanism.The key purpose of the mandatory GHG charge will be to reduce the cost gap between conventional marine fuels and zero/near-zero GHG emission fuels (such as green methanol, green methane including biomethane, green ammonia, green hydrogen…

The 12th session of the IMO’s Sub-Committee on Pollution Prevention and Response (PPR 12), held in London from January 27 to 31 January 2025, finalized guidance on in-water cleaning of ships’ biofouling.The guidance is expected to be approved by MEPC 83 in April, says DNV. The guidance includes voluntary procedures related to planning, documentation, reporting and inspection when conducting in-water cleaning. It also includes recommended practices for those jurisdictions that…

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has joined 47 governments in a joint submission to the final round of negotiations at the IMO on a GHG emissions pricing mechanism for international shipping.The joint text is supported by major shipping nations such as Greece, Japan, Korea and the United Kingdom, the world’s largest flag States including Bahamas, Liberia, Marshall Islands and Panama, all EU States (and the European Commission), other African countries such as Nigeria and Kenya…

IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez has started the new year with a video message highlighting key items on the IMO agenda for 2025.“We start 2025 focusing on three main topics, as we were last year. The first one, seafarers, the second one, security around the globe, and the third one, decarbonization.“When it comes to seafarers, we need to enhance the safety and security of the key personnel on board ships. We also need to focus on increasing the support that we provide to them…

Centuries-old international maritime law has to be updated to outlaw damage to undersea infrastructure such as cables and pipelines, the Estonian justice minister told Reuters after cables connecting it to Finland were again damaged this week.Finnish authorities on Thursday seized a ship carrying Russian oil in the Baltic Sea on suspicion it caused the outage of an undersea power cable connecting Finland and Estonia a day earlier, and that it also damaged or broke four internet lines.On Friday…

The Maritime Safety Committee met for its 109th session at IMO Headquarters in London from December 2 to 6, 2024. The outcomes include:Amendments to mandatory IGC and IGF Codes adoptedThe Committee adopted amendments to Chapter 16 of the IGC Code, related to the use as fuel of cargoes identified as toxic products, in the context of alternative fuels and new technologies. The amendments are expected to enter into force on July 1, 2026. The Committee adopted amendments to parts A and A-1 of the IGF Code relate to ship design, fire safety, ventilation and other safety issues.

The Poseidon Principles, which represents nearly 80% of global ship finance, has published its fifth Annual Disclosure Report, showing progress towards decarbonised shipping.Continued growth of climate transparency from financial institutions shows that the global finance portfolio for shipping has moved closer to alignment with ambitious decarbonisation trajectories set by the IMO, aiming to remove emissions from international shipping by 2050.The report showcases the climate alignment of 35 major financial institutions across 14 countries.This year’s report…

A new study by UCL and UMAS, which analyzed ship movements between 2018-2022, found that optimizing port arrivals to consider port congestion or waiting times could reduce voyage emissions by up to 25% for some vessel types.The average potential emissions saving for the voyages is approximately 10% for container ships and dry bulkers, 16% for gas carriers and oil tankers and almost 25% for chemical tankers. The study finds that these ships spend between 4-6% of their operational time…

Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez will lead IMO’s delegation to the annual UN Climate Change Conference (COP 29) to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from November 11 to 22, 2024.The 29th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will bring together world leaders along with an estimated 40,000 delegates representing governments, civil society and the private sector for discussions on how to address climate change.In line with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change under the UNFCCC…

The Panama Maritime Authority (PMA) has introduced a legal mechanism enabling the immediate revocation of registration and navigation licenses for vessels in the national merchant fleet that appear on international sanctions lists. Additionally, any other navigation documents issued by the PMA will also be invalidated.On October 18, 2024, Executive Decree No. 512 was published in the Official Gazette, outlining the cancellation of vessels or registered owners listed in the following:• Sanctions Lists issued by the U.S.

IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez has completed a series of visits to countries in the Red Sea area to discuss the current situation and express support for freedom of navigation as well as concern for innocent seafarers, particularly those who remain captive with the MV Galaxy Leader.Yemen’s Houthis seized the roro Galaxy Leader and its 25 seafarers in the Red Sea on November 19, 2023.Dominguez said: “The continuous attacks on ships and seafarers in the Red Sea are endangering innocent human lives, affecting the entire shipping industry and therefore the global economy.

The third meeting of the Joint ILO–IMO Tripartite Working Group to identify and address seafarers’ issues and the human element met in Geneva, Switzerland, between November 26–28 and adopted Guidelines on Fair Treatment of Seafarers detained in connection with alleged crimes.The objective of the Guidelines is to ensure that the human rights and legitimate interests of seafarers involved in alleged crimes are recognized, that seafarers detained in connection with alleged crimes are treated fairly by public authorities…

In light of the evolving regulatory landscape for ammonia as a maritime fuel, and the recent finalization of the IMO’s draft interim guidelines on ammonia, the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) has withdrawn Unified Requirement UR H1, “Control of Ammonia Releases in Ammonia Fuelled Vessels.”The news comes ahead of its scheduled implementation date of January 1, 2025. IACS says the decision stems from the differences between its safety parameters and those outlined in the IMO Interim Guidelines.