News

Many vessels are being retrofitted for compliance of Ballast Water Management Convention. More and more Flag States require commissioning tests to be carried out for BWMS installed on board applicable ships after 8 September 2019. Albion Marine Solutions Superintendents act on Owners’ behalf and attend vessels for pre-commissioning checks, commissioning and health checks. More information: Testing of BWTS

2019 saw the implementation of regulations related to crew, lifesaving, fire safety, environment, cargo, and certification. This year too there will be numerous regulatory changes and for the first time the industry will see a global regulation coming into force, the highly anticipated ‘IMO 2020’ Sulphur cap. In addition various regulations will be implemented globally by the IMO and ILO over the next 12 months. This insight provides and overview of some of the important international regulations that enter into force in 2020, including some key domestic regulatory changes in relation to air emissions and ship recycling.

Shippers are signaling that there will be tough negotiations ahead over who will pay for new IMO 2020-compliant low sulfur fuel oil (LSFO). At current pricing, compliant fuel costs roughly twice as much as the heavy fuel oil that most ships could legally burn until last week. With the IMO 2020 sulfur limit now in effect, the Global Shippers Forum (GSF) has issued advice for importers and exporters facing new demands for surcharges from ocean carriers, which are attempting to pass some or all of the added cost of low-sulfur fuel to their customers in the form of special-purpose surcharges. More information: Maritime Executive

Guidance has been published to enable the shipping industry test and develop maritime autonomous surface ships (MASS) safely and effectively. Classification society ClassNK has released its Guidelines of Automated/Autonomous Operations of ships - Design development, Installation and Operation of Automated Operation Systems/Remote Operation Systems. This comes as the UK’s Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) opens its MARLab project for testing autonomous vessel technology to commercial operators and an IMO subcommittee prepares to begin discussions on how regulations should be adapted for MASS testing, development and operations. More information: Autonomous Ship Technology Guidance