MEPC 82: Container liners and cargo owners call for consensus on IMO’s mid-term measures

The IMO member states should agree on a global fuel standard and a pricing mechanism as mid-term measures to bridge the price gap between conventional and future fuels, a group of container liners argue.

PHOTO: A containership owned by the Mediterranean Shipping Company. MSC

“We encourage all UN Member States to work together towards innovative policies and financial mechanisms to level the playing field between fossil and zero and near-zero GHG marine fuels,” the container liners said in a joint message during the UN General Assembly (UNGA) meeting this week.

The statement was signed by a wide range of stakeholders, including “shipping companies, ports, cargo owners, energy suppliers, banks, investors, insurers, class societies, crewing companies, seafarers associations and more,” according to the UN Global Compact.

The IMO is urged to adopt these mid-term measures by 2025 to help scale up green marine fuel production and support the development of green infrastructure. This will accelerate the uptake of low- and zero-emission fuels in a "just, inclusive, ambitious and timely manner," and “level the playing field” for the shipping industry, the participants noted.

“The technology for today’s fleets to run on net-zero fuels already exists but scalable production and infrastructure still inhibit accessibility to these fuels,” Swiss shipping major Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) said as part of the joint statement. MSC called for a consensus at the IMO’s 82nd Marine Environment Protection Committee meeting (MEPC 82) next week to underscore nations' commitment to aligning with shipping industry priorities.

In separate statements, Swedish multinational Volvo Group and Danish shipping major A.P. Moller-Maersk also pushed for consensus at MEPC 82. Maersk chief executive, Vincent Clerc, called for mid-term measures like a global fuel standard and pricing mechanism to be adopted by 2025.

“It's imperative that the International Maritime Organization and its member states agree on making green maritime fuels as affordable as fossil fuels,” Clerc wrote in a social media post. “Governments at the IMO have only 6 months to a reach consensus on effective measures that will make green energy projects bankable in the short term, and we urge them to make tangible progress at the MEPC82 meeting taking place in just a few days,” Clerc added.

Maersk and Volvo endorsed a mechanism proposed by the World Shipping Council that rewards vessels for using green fuels based on their well-to-wake emissions to ensure a price parity between conventional and alternative fuels.

“Only by promoting green fuel alternatives and closing the pricing gap with fossil-based fuels can we advance our transition to net-zero emissions across the broader transport sector,” Martin Lundstedt, chief executive of Volvo Group wrote.

Danish bunker supplier Bunker Holding also advocated for these two mid-term measures in a separate statement. A global fuel standard "setting strict limits on greenhouse gas emissions" will drive the production of low- and zero-emission fuels, while a pricing mechanism will help close the cost gap between fossil and green fuels, Bunker Holding said.

Bunker Holding emphasised that MEPC 82 must define the regulatory framework required to support investments in cleaner bunker fuel alternatives.

By Konica Bhatt

Please get in touch with comments or additional info to news@engine.online