Green

How to reduce carbon emissions from ships The UK Chamber of Shipping has urged the international shipping industry to keep the door open on all options to drive a reduction of its carbon emissions.The Chamber is leading the debate by today launching 'manuals' on the two main options. This is the first time an attempt has been made to set out the practical implications for the shipping industry.The Chamber has welcomed the advances made by the International Maritime Organization to promote the reduction of shipping's carbon emissions through technical efficiencies but believes that it will prove necessary for the industry to go further - through the adoption of economic (or 'market-based') measures to meet governments' expectations and targets.International opinion is divided on the best model for reducing the shipping industry's carbon emissions. Some support the idea of a greenhouse gas (GHG) contribution fund, in which shipping companies would contribute as part of purchases of bunker fuel. Others prefer an Emissions Trading System (ETS), in which shipping companies would buy a shipping allowance or 'emissions unit', which they would then surrender according to their actual carbon emissions.Some consider the GHG fund to be more straightforward and provide price certainty for the...

Locals still feel BP is unable to manage the situation properly When news of the disastrous BP oil well explosion reached the residents of Jean Lafitte, Louisiana last April, Mayor Tim Kerner did the only thing he could think of to stop the oil from destroying his community. He encouraged everyone in his town to join him on the water, working day and night throughout the disaster to clean-up the spill.Now, one year after BP managed to cap the runaway well that fouled the Gulf of Mexico with an estimated five million barrels of oil, most of those people are ill."I'm afraid my neighbors will come to me and say, I wouldn't have listened to you and kept my job if I knew it would kill me," Kerner said.Kerner's story was one of many shared by Kerry Kennedy, president of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, at a briefing Wednesday evening, the day after she led a delegation to the Gulf Coast to assess the scope of the emerging healthcare crisis in the wake of the BP drilling disaster."The residents are sick," Kennedy said. "They don't know what the exact cause of their illness is, but...

A study by WHOI team More than a year after the largest oil spill in history, perhaps the dominant lingering question about the Deepwater Horizon spill is, "What happened to the oil?" Now, in the first published study to explain the role of microbes in breaking down the oil slick on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) researchers have come up with answers that represent both surprisingly good news and a head-scratching mystery.In research scheduled to be published in the Aug. 2 online edition of Environmental Research Letters, the WHOI team studied samples from the surface oil slick and surrounding Gulf waters. They found that bacterial microbes inside the slick degraded the oil at a rate five times faster than microbes outside the slick-accounting in large part for the disappearance of the slick some three weeks after Deepwater Horizon's Macondo well was shut off.At the same time, the researchers observed no increase in the number of microbes inside the slick-something that would be expected as a byproduct of increased consumption, or respiration, of the oil. In this process, respiration combines food (oil in this case) and oxygen to create carbon dioxide and energy."What did...

A new MARPOL regulation to protect the Antarctic from pollution Amendments to IMO's MARPOL Convention for the prevention of pollution from ships enter into force on 1 August 2011, banning heavy fuel oil from the Antarctic and creating a new North American Emission Control Area (ECA).Use or carriage of oil in Antarctic AreaA new MARPOL regulation to protect the Antarctic from pollution by heavy-grade oils is added to MARPOL Annex I (Regulations for the prevention of pollution by oil), with a new chapter 9 on Special requirements for the use or carriage of oils in the Antarctic area.Regulation 43 prohibits both the carriage in bulk as cargo and the carriage and use as fuel, of: crude oils having a density, at 15C, higher than 900 kg/m3; oils, other than crude oils, having a density, at 15C, higher than 900 kg/m3 or a kinematic viscosity, at 50C, higher than 180 mm2/s; or bitumen, tar and their emulsions.This means, in effect, that ships trading to the area, whether passenger or cargo ships, would need to switch to a different fuel type when transiting the Antarctic area, defined as "the sea area south of latitude 60S". An exception is envisaged for vessels engaged...

11 to 15 July 2011 Mandatory measures to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from international shipping were adopted by Parties to MARPOL Annex VI represented in the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), when it met for its 62nd session from 11 to 15 July 2011 at IMO Headquarters in London, representing the first ever mandatory global greenhouse gas reduction regime for an international industry sector.The amendments to MARPOL Annex VI Regulations for the prevention of air pollution from ships, add a new chapter 4 to Annex VI on Regulations on energy efficiency for ships to make mandatory the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI), for new ships, and the Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP) for all ships. Other amendments to Annex VI add new definitions and the requirements for survey and certification, including the format for the International Energy Efficiency Certificate.The regulations apply to all ships of 400 gross tonnage and above and are expected to enter into force on 1 January 2013.However, under regulation 19, the Administration may waive the requirement for new ships of 400 gross tonnage and above from complying with the EEDI requirements. This waiver may not be applied...

IMO has developed a final version for amendments to MARPOL Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 After long debates and negotiations, the IMOs Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 62) has developed a final version for amendments to MARPOL Annex VI aimed to reduce ships greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The adoption may be reached by the end of this week through consensus rather than though voting. Therefore, as an interim report, below is a brief description of the amendments which MEPC 62 may adopt.The consensus for the adoption of these amendments to MARPOL is reached by adding two additional provisions: one promoting technical cooperation and transfer of technology, the other providing an waiver so that Administrations could chose to delay the enforcement of the amendments for up to 4 years.The amendments, due to come into force 1 January 2013, can be summed up as follows:1. New ship (building contract as from 1 January 2013 and delivery not later than 30 June 2015) will have to meet a required Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI). In addition, all ships, new and existing are required to keep onboard a ship specific Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP) which may form part of the ship's...

Shell has emerged as one of the top offenders Serious spills of oil and gas from North Sea platforms are occurring at the rate of one a week, undermining oil companies' claims to be doing everything possible to improve the safety of rigs.Shell has emerged as one of the top offenders despite promising to clean up its act five years ago after a large accident in which two oil workers died.Documents obtained by the Guardian record leaks voluntarily declared by the oil companies to the safety regulator, the Health and Safety Executive(HSE), in a database set up after the Piper Alpha disaster of 6 July 1988 which killed 167 workers. They reveal for the first time the names of companies that have caused more than 100 potentially lethal and largely unpublicised oil and gas spills in the North Sea in 2009 and 2010.They also deal a significant blow to the government's credibility in supporting the oil industry's fervent desire to drill in the Arctic. Charles Hendry, the energy minister, has said operations to drill in deep Arctic waters by companies such as Cairn Energy off Greenland are "entirely legitimate" as long as they adhere to Britain's "robust" safety regulation.Shell has...

Warming water beneath the ice will cause problems Warming air from climate change isn't the only thing that will speed ice melting near the poles - so will the warming water beneath the ice, a new study points out.Increased melting of ice in Greenland and parts of Antarctica has been reported as a consequence of global warming, potentially raising sea levels. But little attention has been paid to the impact of warmer water beneath the ice.Now, Jianjun Yin of the University of Arizona and colleagues report the warming water could mean polar ice melting faster than had been expected. Their report was published Sunday in the journal Nature Geoscience.While melting floating ice won't raise sea level, ice flowing into the sea from glaciers often reaches the bottom, and grounded ice melted by warm water around it can produce added water to the sea."Ocean warming is very important compared to atmospheric warming because water has a much larger heat capacity than air," Yin explained. "If you put an ice cube in a warm room, it will melt in several hours. But if you put an ice cube in a cup of warm water, it will disappear in just minutes."In addition, Yin...

The kite will use wind power to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fuel costs Cargill has signed an agreement with Greek ship owner/manager Anbros Maritime S.A. (Anbros) to install the world's largest kite on its Aghia Marina dry bulk cargo vessel. The Aghia Marina typically transports cargoes of agricultural and industrial raw materials.The 170 metre long carrier, built in 1994, has a service speed of up to 14 knots and can carry about 28,500 tonnes of dry bulk cargoes at any one time, making it the largest vessel to use the wind power technology created by SkySails GmbH (SkySails).Last February, Cargill announced it had signed a supply agreement with SkySails that aims to use wind power technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the shipping industry. SkySails, based in Hamburg, has developed an innovative, patented technology that uses a kite which flies ahead of the vessel and generates enough propulsion to reduce consumption of bunker fuel by up to 35 percent in ideal sailing conditions."We are delighted to partner with Anbros and announce the Aghia Marina as the largest vessel to use the SkySails technology to date", said Roger Janson, head of Cargill's ocean transportation business. "As Cargill is one...

Tanker professionals launch Virtual Arrival The Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF) and Intertanko believe they can help cut 40% of CO₂ emissions in EU Maritime Transport by 2050 though a "sustainable emissions management framework".Key to the proposal is Virtual Arrival - a voyage management optimisation and vessel emission reduction tool developed together by the two industry bodies in collaboration with the European Union.Virtual Arrival is a process that involves making an agreement to reduce a vessel's speed on voyage to meet a revised arrival time when there is a known delay at the discharge port. Reducing the vessel's speed will have a direct impact on fuel consumption, reduce emissions from the ship, improve safety and environmental concerns connected to congestion in ports and get the right amount of cargo to the right port at the right time. This results in a reduction in emissions but not in the delivered cargo capacity.Before a vessel's departure from the load port, or while en route to the discharge port when a delay is identified at the discharge port, for example due to lack of receiving space, a mutual agreement is made between two (or more) parties to adapt the ship's arrival time...