MEPC 84: Russia seeks changes to IMO database rules

Russia tabled a last-minute proposal on the opening day of MEPC 84, seeking changes to Paragraph 12 of Regulation 27 under MARPOL Annex VI.

IMAGE: Harry T. Conway addressing IMO delegates at today's opening of the 84th Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 84) meeting in London. Conway is the MEPC Chair. IMO

Regulation 27 requires ships of 5,000 gross tonnage and above to collect and report fuel oil consumption data to the IMO Ship Fuel Oil Consumption Database.

Paragraph 12 of this regulation states that “The Secretary-General of the Organization shall maintain an anonymized database such that identification of a specific ship will not be possible. Parties shall have access to the anonymized data strictly for their analysis and consideration.”

Russia proposed either deleting the paragraph entirely or amending it so that anonymised data could only be shared with other states with “the consent of the relevant flag state.”

The proposal was backed by several petrostates, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iran and Iraq, as well as India, Thailand, Nigeria and Ghana.

The EU bloc, including Cyprus, Greece, Malta and France, alongside Brazil, opposed the proposal and called for the existing text to remain unchanged.

The Marshall Islands, Cook Islands and Denmark said they were unable to take a position on the proposal due to the timing of the submission.

MEPC Chair Harry T. Conway said changes could not be made through an informal floor intervention and would need to follow the IMO’s formal submission and decision-making procedures.

Member states were urged to consult among themselves, while Russia was asked to submit its proposal in writing if it wished to pursue it further.

By Konica Bhatt

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