No Procrastination in Face of Low-Carbon Regulation

Reporter Yi Xin

The amendments to MARPOL Annex VI on EEDI and SEEMP regulations were adopted by the recent IMO’s MEPC 62thmeeting and are due to enter into force on 1stJanuary, 2013. Up to now, the three critical steps including EEDI,SEEMP and MBI(market based instrument) which are under the IMO’s greenhouse gas emission framework have moved forward with the two already becoming mandatory requirements.

With tough negotiations, though the amendments refl ect the developing countries ’intention, have compromised on the clauses of technical support and transfer and clearly defined the clauses of exemption for the implementation with four years after the entry into force of the amendment,there are no changes in the definition of new ships and the phases of implementation to improve energy efficiency standards.

Ships contracted on and after 1st January, 2013 are termed new ships and the four phases will still be followed by 2013~2015, 2015~2019, 2019~2024, 2050 and after 2005. The emission deduction percentage for EEDI applicable ships are 0%, 10%, 20% and 30%respectively. It is not difficult to see that standards set out by the amendments are more and more stringent and the promotion of green ships and green shipping is becoming increasingly urgent.

The two mechanisms will be mandatorily implemented through international laws and regulations and checked or inspected by flag states and port state control activities. However, ships which don’t meet emission standards will not be treated in the same way as required by other conventions by adopting detentions or phasing out but rather using the economic measures, that is,MBI, which will encourage ship owners and builders to constantly improve the ships’ energy efficiency and reach the emission reduction target through levying carbon tax as an incentive.

Up to now, the expert group established with authorization from IMO has finished study and assessment on the feasibility and influence of the MBI proposed by various parties. According to relevant work plan, this meeting in London should have also considered the issue of MBI, but due to all parties fully engaged in discussing and adopting the above two technical standards, the MBI issue was finally postponed to be discussed next year.

In the “green revolution” which is being globally promoted, energy saving and emission reduction and green shipping are the focus of the competition. Their influence is nothing lesser than the transformation of marine power from wind sail to steam engine which took place in 19th century, the essence being to upgrade technical standards and management requirements of ships, impact and eliminate the backward production capacity and strengthen the advantage of market completion. Those who can grasp the opportunity and promote the green ship technology suitable for the future development will definitely gain the advantages in the new challenges.

In the short run, due to the unremitting efforts of developing countries including China, clauses of time limit extension on enforcement and technical cooperation and assistance have been added into the EEDI text.

According to Regulation 19.4 and 19.5, flag administrations will grant ships up to a four year exemption on the enforcement of the conventional requirements. This means that ships will apply EEDI requirement after their building contract signed on and after January 1st, 2017. However, according to Regulation 19.6, such exemption vessels may face risks of be refused to enter into other countries’ ports.According to Regulation 23 on technical assistance and cooperation, flag administrations can make the full use of this provision and coordinate with the often visited port state administrations to come to an agreement that will allow these exemption vessels to carry free trade.

For Chinese shipbuilding and shipping industries,though the government may grant an enforcement exemption up to four years, this might not be a good thing for a internationally big shipbuilding and shipping country. We should keep pace with the world in implementing the new requirements so that we do not lose our competition.