Greek Shipowners applaud the important decision of the UN IMO MSC 100 to develop further measures to deal with the safety implications associated with the 2020 compliant marine fuels and their respective challenges

Piraeus, 10.12.2018

The Union of the Greek Shipowners (UGS) warmly welcomes the decision of the Maritime Safety Committee (London, December 3-7, 2018) of the United Nations International Maritime Organization (UN IMO) to confirm its exclusive competence regarding safety issues relating to the use of ships’ fuel oil and to launch actions aimed at tackling them, as they are expected to become more acute after the implementation of the 2020 global sulphur cap in marine fuels.

“We hope that both existing problems as well as any that may emanate from the new low sulphur marine fuels, which will be produced mainly through blending (fuel blends), will be addressed appropriately and effectively by the IMO MSC”, the President of the UGS, Mr. Theodore Veniamis noted.

Over the next period, the discussion is expected to focus at the UN IMO on unstable and unsafe fuels with lower flashpoints than the minimum required by SOLAS, the incompatibility of different batches of blended fuels, inadequate safety margins for cat fines and extended ignition delays due to poor combustion characteristics.  

“Fulfilling its institutional role in its entirety, the UGS will continue to contribute substantially with a view to the timely and effective response to these challenges, which pose a real and major threat to ships’ crews and engines and, by extension, to the marine environment, so as to achieve the safest and smoothest possible transition to the use of new, low-sulphur marine fuels throughout the shipping industry”, Mr. Veniamis concluded.