Speaking at a high level Dialogue on Protection at Sea, hosted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has called on governments to address the growing refugee and migrant crisis in the Mediterranean.

ICS Secretary General, Peter Hinchliffe, remarked: “The shipping industry fully accepts its humanitarian obligation to assist anyone at sea whose vessel is in distress. But the situation in the Mediterranean has been spiralling out of control, and may well get worse after the end of the winter weather as thousands more people may attempt to get to Europe from North Africa by sea.”

ICS, the global trade association for shipowners, says the crisis has already required over 600 commercial ships to rescue tens of thousands of migrants during the past 12 months, as people attempt to get to Europe in dilapidated craft that are unfit for purpose, not seaworthy, and often grossly overloaded.

He added: “Large scale rescues at sea are not routine events and pose enormous challenges to ships that may only have accommodation and resources for a crew of perhaps 25 people. Recovering 200 or sometimes even 400 anxious and distressed people on board a merchant ship, and administering to their immediate needs, places huge demands on the crew and there is a compelling need for governments to ensure disembarkation as soon as possible to a place of safety ashore”.

The shipping industry is not in a position to solve the root causes of the crisis and recognises that governments face an enormous challenge. “But far more can be done by governments to ameliorate the current desperate situation at sea in the Mediterranean,” suggested Mr Hinchliffe.

ICS believes that the coastal authorities in North Africa can do much more to prevent the migrants’ craft from setting out to sea in the first place, especially where traffickers and people smugglers are involved. However, the European Union and its Member States also need to assist the authorities in North Africa and meet their moral responsibility as governments to support search and rescue operations and those merchant ships that are often the first on the scene. ICS suggests that more rescue resources need to be committed to the region by all EU Member States and that disembarkation facilities need to be provided without equivocation.

Illegal and inhumane trafficking and deliberate abandonment of migrants in shipping lanes needs to be urgently stamped out. Mr Hinchliffe praised the proposal by the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) for those UN agencies concerned with the plight of migrants and refugees at sea to combine their resources in an inter-agency approach.

Earlier this week, ICS issued Guidelines on Large Scale Rescue Operations at Sea, which can be downloaded from the ICS website.

In response to the continuing crisis in the Mediterranean, necessitating commercial ships to rescue tens of thousands of migrants and refugees during 2014, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has published new Guidance on Large Scale Rescue Operations at Sea, which can be downloaded free of charge via the ICS website. (See www.ics-shipping.org/docs/largescalerescue)

ICS Secretary General, Peter Hinchliffe explained: “The shipping industry fully accepts its humanitarian obligation to assist anyone at sea whose vessel is in distress. But the scale of the crisis involving thousands of people attempting to get to Europe in craft that are neither fit for purpose nor seaworthy has raised real concerns about the safety and health of ships’ crews that may be involved in rescuing as many as 200 people at a time.”

The challenges involved in rescuing large numbers of people and then accommodating them on board ship prior to disembarkation are enormous compared to conventional rescue operations.  The ICS Guidelines are therefore intended to help shipping companies prepare for this eventuality, whilst taking full of account of the safety and security of the ship should such large scale rescues be necessary.  ICS says that experience has shown that advance preparations, and the development of effective procedures supported by regular drills, will prepare Masters and their crews to manage large scale rescue operations safely and successfully.

The issues covered by the ICS Guidelines include the provision of additional Personal Protective Equipment for ship’s crew and the safe management and accommodation of large numbers of people on board with an emphasis on sanitation, hygiene and ship security.  The Guidelines also refer to the need for companies to take full account of crew welfare in the aftermath of a large scale rescue.  The ICS Guidelines also contain useful references to relevant advice produced by the World Health Organization and the International Maritime Organization.

ICS also emphasises that Masters should not be expected to become involved in decisions about the legal status of the people they have rescued or whether they intend to apply for asylum.

“Notwithstanding the shipping industry’s legal and humanitarian obligations to rescue people in distress at sea, it remains incumbent on the governments to find a solution to the current crisis which is placing a very difficult burden on ships’ crews and the companies that have a duty of care for them.” said Mr Hinchliffe, who will be participating at a high-level meeting on the migrants at sea crisis being hosted by the UNHCR in Geneva later this week, in which the IMO Secretary-General will also be taking part.

A fully updated edition of the definitive industry guidance on the safe operation of chemical tankers has just been published by the shipping industry’s global trade association, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS).

The new edition of the ICS Tanker Safety Guide (Chemicals) replaces the previous edition issued in 2002. ICS recommends that a copy is carried on board every tanker engaged in the carriage of chemical cargoes, and that copies are also held within shipping company technical departments.

Since its first publication over 40 years ago, the ICS Guide has become the standard reference work on best practice for chemical tanker operations, with an emphasis on how best to comply with additional International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations to ensure the prevention of pollution in the safest manner possible.

ICS Secretary General, Peter Hinchliffe, explained: “The production of this new edition has been a major project taking many years and drawing on expertise throughout the industry. As well as taking account of the latest best practice, large sections have been totally rewritten to assist comprehension”.

The updated ICS Guide takes full account of the adoption by IMO in May 2014 of important amendments to the SOLAS Convention, following a major IMO review of tanker safety that has taken the best part of a decade.

These amendments to SOLAS include new mandatory requirements for the inerting of chemical tankers. Together with recent changes made to the IMO Fire Safety Systems (FSS) Code, these SOLAS amendments are fully reflected in the new edition of the ICS Guide.

Mr Hinchliffe said: “Particular attention has also been given during preparation of the updated Guide to the question of how to inculcate an effective safety culture amongst everyone involved in chemical tanker operations.”

The 4^th Edition of the ICS Tanker Safety Guide (Chemicals) is available for purchase from all maritime booksellers worldwide, or direct from ICS. The updated ICS Guide, with almost 300 pages and numerous illustrations, is accompanied by a CD including a search function and the facility to print and complete various checklists and other documentation. The recommended price is UK £395.

The ICS Tanker Safety Guide (Chemicals) should be regarded as a companion to the International Safety Guide for Oil Tankers and Terminals (ISGOTT), jointly published by ICS and the Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF).

The shipping industry is fully committed to total compliance with the 0.1% sulphur in fuel requirements, in Emission Control Areas, from January 2015.  And there is no reason to suggest that there will not be full compliance, says the industry’s global trade association, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS).

“But there is nevertheless concern amongst those owners who know that they themselves will comply but who may worry about their competitors” said ICS Director of Policy & External Relations, Simon Bennett, speaking today at the Mediterranean Bunker Fuel Conference (organised by Platts in Barcelona).

Mr Bennett remarked “The shipping industry will be investing billions of dollars in order to ensure compliance with this major regulatory change.  It therefore seems only fair that governments should implement the rules in a uniform manner as we enter a brave new world in which fuel costs, for some ships, will increase overnight by around 50%”.

Mr Bennett suggested that, unlike some of the national authorities in Europe, the United States had made its approach to enforcement relatively clear.

“The real crime in the U.S. is to be caught providing false information to the Federal authorities” said Mr Bennett.  “This is a criminal offence, attracting the possibility of multi-million dollar fines.   If a ship has been found to supply false information, the US Department of Justice can be expected to throw the book at the operator.  The DOJ is always very motivated by the chance to secure relatively easy prosecutions and shipping companies are easy pickings.”

Looking forward to the implementation of the global sulphur cap, most likely in 2020, it was still unknown whether significant numbers of ships would make use of options for alternative compliance instead of burning low sulphur fuel, a provision which ICS had fought hard for during the negotiations at IMO when the MARPOL amendments were adopted.

With respect to port state control and scrubbers, there was still a need for a harmonised approach about the acceptability of ‘closed loop’ and ‘open loop’ systems, and the extent to which overboard discharges would be subject to inspection.

With respect to sulphur-free LNG, while new some ships were being fitted with dual fuel systems, Mr Bennett suggested that for most existing vessels the engineering involved would probably be too costly to encourage retrofitting.  The other major unknown was the extent to which the current lack of LNG infrastructure will be addressed before 2020.  Apart from uncertainly about the comparative costs of LNG and distillate, there were also uncertainties about the future of the US shale gas revolution.

In the medium term, there was also the possibility of alternative fuels such as methanol, which for some ships might produce a clean and economically viable alternative.  There were genuine concerns about safety, although if handled correctly these were arguably little different to the risks surrounding LNG, and trials using such alternatives should therefore be permitted.

It had also been suggested that the availability of distillate could be immediately increased by lowering the minimum permitted flashpoint from 60 degrees, which is the requirement under the IMO SOLAS Convention, to something comparable to conventional diesel.  Mr Bennett stressed that “this is highly controversial because of the danger of fuel coming into contact with hot surfaces in ship’s engine rooms, with the potential for catastrophic explosions and loss of life.  However, the question of the higher flashpoint required by SOLAS is now being looked at again by IMO”.

Because of legitimate concerns about safety, simply lowering the flashpoint of diesel on existing ships, in the belief that it will lower the price, may well prove a step too far for the regulators.  “But there is a school of thought that says that a future generation of ships, with appropriately trained crews, could be constructed or operated in a manner such that use of low flashpoint diesel would be safe, just in the same way that LNG has proven to be safe and cost effective fuel.  This is not yet the current position of ICS, but a discussion is starting to take place.”

The global shipping industry, which transports around 90% of world trade, only produced about 2.2% of the world’s total Green House Gas emissions during 2012 compared to 2.8% in 2007.  Shipping’s total emissions have reduced by more than 10% during the same period.

In advance of the United Nations Climate Conference in Lima (1-12 December), the global trade association for ship operators – the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) – says that the industry is on track to reduce its emissions by more than 20% by 2020 (compared to 2005) with further reductions going forward.

This and other information about the impressive progress which the shipping industry is making to reduce its CO₂ emissions is set out in a special brochure prepared for the UNFCCC Climate Change Conference (COP 20).  This can be found on the global trade association’s website – www.ics-shipping.org/docs/co2

The shipping industry is the only industrial sector which is already covered by a binding global agreement to reduce its CO₂ emissions, through technical and operational measures agreed – with full industry support – by its global regulator, the London-based International Maritime Organization (IMO).

ICS explains that the IMO is now developing additional measures to reduce CO₂ emissions from shipping and that the UN Conference needs to maintain its support for IMO as the principal forum for addressing emissions from maritime transport, which cannot be attributed to individual national economies.

ICS emphasises that any decision, for example on whether to develop a Market Based Measure for shipping that might be linked to the Green Climate Fund (GCF), should be a matter for IMO Member States.  IMO will be best placed to develop an approach that can reconcile the UNFCCC principle of ‘Common But Differentiated Responsibility (CBDR)’ – whereby developing countries are treated differently – with the need for all ships, regardless of flag, to be treated in a uniform manner.

Shipping is a global industry requiring rules on CO₂ to be applied on a global basis to all ships.  Apart from preventing market distortion in this totally globalised sector, this is necessary to avoid ‘carbon leakage’ since only about 35% of the world fleet is registered with those developed nations that are covered by emission reduction commitments under the existing Kyoto Protocol on climate change prevention.

The position of the shipping industry remains that any contribution by shipping to the GCF must reflect the sector’s modest contribution to total global CO₂ emissions.  ICS is firmly opposed to any suggestion that the shipping industry should collectively pay tens of billions of dollars each year, stressing that the industry is not a ‘cash cow’.

The rescue of all persons in distress at sea – including illegal migrants – is an obligation under international maritime law, as well as being a long established humanitarian duty, says the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS). ICS is the global trade association for commercial ship operators, whose ships are currently involved on a daily basis in the rescue of refugees at sea in the Mediterranean.

Whatever may be decided by policy makers in EU Member States, the legal and humanitarian obligation of merchant ships to provide assistance to anyone in distress at sea will remain unchanged, says ICS.

Commenting on new reports that some European Union Ministers have expressed concerns that search and rescue operations have acted as a ‘pull factor’ for illegal migration, encouraging people to make dangerous crossings in the expectation of rescue, ICS notes that merchant ships are legally required to rescue persons in distress at sea by the UN International Maritime Organization’s Safety of Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS), to which virtually every maritime nation is a Party.

Under SOLAS, and the International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue, the obligation of the ship Master to render assistance is complemented by a corresponding obligation of IMO Member States to co-operate in rescue situations, thereby relieving the Master of the responsibility to care for survivors, and allowing individuals who are rescued at sea in such circumstances to be delivered promptly to a place of safety.

The shipping industry is therefore very concerned by reports that the new EU Frontex operation ‘Triton’ will have a third of the budget of the current Italian ‘Mare Nostrum’ operation which it replaces, that its primary focus will be border control, and that search and rescue operations may be reduced in international waters.

It will clearly be much more difficult for merchant ships to save lives at sea without the adequate provision of search and rescue services by EU Member States. Moreover, whenever a ship performs its legal and humanitarian obligations, it will continue to be incumbent on EU Member States to ensure that those who are rescued can be readily disembarked at the next port of call, even when they may lack documentation.

Governments attending the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) this week have made real progress towards agreeing solutions to major issues that have previously impeded ratification of the IMO Ballast Water Management Convention, says the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), the global trade association for ship operators.

Speaking at IMO headquarters, ICS Secretary General, Peter Hinchliffe, remarked “We are very pleased that IMO Member States have fully acknowledged the shipping industry’s concerns by agreeing to start work immediately on a revision of the G8 type-approval guidelines to make the process for approving ballast water treatment equipment more robust. In the meantime, it has also been agreed, in principle, that any shipowner that has invested in first generation treatment equipment, type-approved under the current G8 guidelines, should not be penalised, provided that the equipment is operated and maintained correctly. The adoption by IMO of new Port State Control guidelines reflecting a fair and pragmatic approach to inspection is also an important additional step.”

Mr Hinchliffe added “While some of the details still need to be finalised by the MEPC next year, an MEPC Resolution adopted at this meeting should do much to build confidence in the Convention amongst both shipowners and IMO Member States.”