IMO Seeks Hosts for Maritime Technology Centers

An ambitious project to help mitigate the harmful effects of climate change has been kick-started by IMO with a call for formal expressions of interest to host centres to promote cooperation in the field of maritime technology.

The joint IMO – European Union project, entitled “Capacity Building for Climate Change Mitigation in the Maritime Shipping Industry” will see five Maritime Technology Cooperation Centers (MTCCs) established, one in each of five target regions – Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America and the Pacific – to form a global network.

The MTCCs will receive allocations from the €10 million European Union funding for the project. They will be established and resourced to become centres of excellence, providing leadership in promoting ship energy-efficiency technologies and operations, and the reduction of harmful emissions from ships.  
                         
IMO is inviting organizations located in the target regions with the capacity to set up MTCCs to submit an Expression of Interest to IMO by 15 May 2016.

Each MTCC will be hosted by an existing organization (or consortium of organizations) with credible standing in its region, considerable engagement with industry and government, a track record of regional outreach and the ability to provide the MTCC with in-kind hosting support such as office space, as well as related logistical support.

The selection process will consist of three steps:

1) Call for Expressions of Interest;
2) Due diligence missions to short-listed entities; and
3) Call for full proposals.

The five organizations whose bids are successful will go on to host MTCCs with initial funding support from the project. They will enter into a contract with IMO to deliver mutually-agreed project milestones over a three-year period.