Lloyd’s Register urges shipowners to start preparing fleets for carbon intensity targets

Shipowners have to come up with a Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP) for their vessels by the end of this year and have a verified copy on-board from January next year.

PHOTO: Bunkering of a bulk carrier. Getty Images

It is crucial for shipowners to understand the regulation and start working on their plans now, as only six months are left to transition the entire global fleet of vessels above 5,000 gross mt, Lloyd’s Register experts said in a webinar on Tuesday.

The document must also mention a designated officer who will oversee the completion of work.

SEEMP Part III is aimed to help shipping companies meet their required Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) ratings.

The CII data collection will begin from next year, and from 2024 it will be mandatory for ships to calculate their CII annually and achieve a required rating of ‘C’ or better, based on their fuel consumption data from the preceding year.

The CII deadline is 2027. By that time shipowners must improve their ships’ ratings to a minimum of ‘C’.

SEEMP Part III is in addition to Part I and Part II, which cover mechanisms for companies to improve their ships’ energy efficiency and procedures to monitor fuel consumption, respectively.

Measures such as speed reduction, haul cleaning, improving propulsion power and use of biofuels as a drop-in fuel can help in improving a ship’s CII performance, Llyod’s Register’s regional advisory services manager Douglas Raitt said.

He advises shipowners to select the right set of measures for their ships.

“Be realistic while choosing a set of measures. All ship types are not same and have different trading pattern, so it is important to go by technical efficacy studies to choose the right set of measures,” Raitt added.