Meeting on the carriage of bio-fuels, gas-fuelled ships and ballast water 

The session, which was held in London in mid-February, was attended by representatives from the Danish Maritime Authority. A number of current challenges and problems were debated at the session. A short summary hereof in connection with each item is given below.

The next session of the Sub-Committee will be held in February 2011.

Air emissions from ships

The Sub-Committee discussed guidelines for certification of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems with a view to meeting the requirements of the technical NOx Code under Tier III. Since the work was not finalised, a correspondence group was established to continue working on the guidelines. Denmark will take an active part in the work.

It is expected that the work will be finalised at BLG 15 with a view to submission of a final proposal for approval at MEPC 61 and subsequent adoption at MEPC 62.

Ballast water and bio-fouling

The Sub-Committee is in the process of drafting guidelines on ballast water sampling. The work was not finalised; and EMSA (the European Maritime Safety Agency) will continue working with this issue with a view to submission of a proposal on sampling for BLG 15.

Work was also being put into voluntary guidelines on the control and management of ships’ bio-fouling. This work will be continued in a working group with a view to completion at BLG 15.

Transport of bio-fuels

The Sub-Committee had a prolonged discussion of issues in connection with a practice where large quantities of bio-fuels are blended on board ships. It was agreed that the limit for the carriage of blends of diesel fuel with bio-fuels in oil tankers under MARPOL Annex I should now be 75% diesel fuel. These transports are conditional upon the oil discharge monitoring equipment (ODME) being capable of measuring the blends so that the discharge requirements stipulated in MARPOL Annex I are met. Blends with quantities of bio-fuels greater than 25% should be carried by chemical tankers.

Gas-fuelled ships

The Sub-Committee continued its work developing the International Code of Safety for Gas-fuelled Engine Installations in Ships (the IGF Code). The Code was intended to replace the previous guidelines. It is expected that this work will be finalised in 2012.

Revision of the IGC Code (International Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk)

The Code is currently being revised and the Sub-Committee decided to extend the date of completion until 2014.

Natural gas hydrate pellet (NGHP) carriers

The Sub-Committee finalised interim guidelines on NGHP carriers (ships carrying artificially created natural gas hydrate pellets; natural gas hydrate is a crystallized solid mass consisting of natural gas molecules surrounded by water molecules) with a view to adoption at MSC 87.

The guidelines were to be revised after the completion of the work with the IGC Code.