IMO, EBRD To Promote Cleaner Bunkering

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and UN agency, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), agreed February 9 in London to establish a strategic partnership to promote sustainable maritime transport.

The cooperation was formalised in a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by IMO secretary-general Kitack Lim and EBRD first vice president Phil Bennett.

Under the agreement, EBRD said it and the IMO -- both of which have their headquarters in London -- will exchange know-how and experience and will work together with national governments, in countries where both institutions are active, to help them implement frameworks for a fair, effective and sustainable maritime industry.

The EBRD statement did not specifically mention LNG, but this fuel is one of three solutions that shipowners may turn to in order to meet the IMO-set worldwide cap from January 1 2020 on sulphur in marine fuels of 0.5%.

Initially EBRD said the cooperation will focus on Azerbaijan, Egypt, Georgia, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey and cover topics such as attracting more investment in the sector, tackling climate change, enhancing energy efficiency and promoting health and safety. In both of these, Egypt and Turkey, LNG is available - but it's thought the infrastructure for supplying this at a small-scale as a marine LNG fuel may not yet be developed.

The IMO said earlier this week that "ensuring consistent implementation of the 0.5% requirement is a key item on the agenda of IMO’s Sub-committee on Pollution Prevention and Response" which met February 5-9 at IMO headquarters in London and which was also to continue looking at how to measure black carbon emissions from shipping.