A Rotterdam court has found Dutch reefer operator Seatrade and two of its directors criminally liable last week for illegally selling vessels for demolition in South Asian yards in breach of the EU Waste Shipment Regulation. The decision appears to be the first time an EU shipowner has been held criminally liable for the illegal … Continue Reading
Last week the top EU climate official, Jos Delbeke, issued a challenge to the International Maritime Organization (the IMO) to adopt an ambitious target for reduction of emissions as part of the IMO’s planned 2018 strategy on reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from ships.… Continue Reading
In our April update on this subject, we reported on the outcome of the sixty-ninth meeting of the Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) (MEPC 69) and on what to expect from the next MEPC meeting (MEPC 70). This update outlines the outcome of MEPC 70 (which took place on … Continue Reading
The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has confirmed that new a global cap on the sulphur content in shipping fuel will be introduced on 1 January 2020. Since 1 January 2012, the global limit has been 3.5% mass/mass (m/m) which will decrease to 0.5% m/m when the new cap takes effect. The cap will apply to … Continue Reading
In Reed Smith’s recent March alert on this subject, we looked ahead to the 69th meeting in London of the Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC) of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) (MEPC 69). MEPC 69 has now taken place (from 18–22 April 2016). This article discusses the outcome of that meeting on maritime greenhouse gas (“GHG”) issues … Continue Reading
In January changes to the way in which Cargo residues were classified came into effect by way of changes to MARPOL Annex V (see our client alert of 8 March 2013; Revised MARPOL Annex V: Just Who Should Take Out the Trash?). These changes were met with some concern by both charterers and owners in … Continue Reading
As a first step towards reducing the marine transport industry’s greenhouse gas emissions, on 28 June 2013 the European Commission (the “Commission”) tabled a draft Regulation to introduce a system of monitoring and publication of individual vessels’ annual CO2 emissions. This alert explains why the Commission has taken this step, exactly what it is proposing, … Continue Reading
