Seatrade Maritime is part of the Informa Markets Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

LR positions itself against talk of supporting regional regulation

Photo: LR alistair_marsh_hero_shot.jpg
In an unusually forthright response to reports that the Global Maritime Forum (GMF) may support greater regional regulation in relation to reducing shipping’s carbon emissions, Lloyd’s Register (LR) has distanced itself from any such moves.

The GMF held a ‘Virtual High-Level Meeting’ last week at which calls were made in support of more regional initiatives with both Chistian Ingerslev, ceo of Maersk Tankers, and Lasse Kristoffersen, president and ceo of Torvald Klaveness quoted in a press statement saying that the industry should give active support to national and regional programmes

However, LR Group’s ceo, Alastair Marsh, declared: “We believe that global regulation to reduce the maritime industry’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) as the shipping regulator, is in the best interests of all shipping stakeholders.

“Lloyd’s Register is committed to working with all industry players to halve GHG emissions from 2008 levels by 2050. To do this, zero-carbon vessels must enter the world fleet by 2030, along with the necessary fuels and land-side infrastructure, and we are actively supporting our clients to achieve these ambitions.”

The support for regional action is another sign of frustration at the IMO’s slow pace of change. Despite far-reaching ambitions, the UN Agency operates on the basis of consensus between its 174 nation members, many of which have different priorities.

The IMO’s deliberations over issues including ballast water regulations and ship recycling, still to come into force, are examples of initiatives that have taken many years to be implemented. Most recently, and amid broad industry opposition, the EU announced that shipping is to be included in its Emissions Trading Scheme for the first time.

Leading industry representatives fear that this could lead to a patchwork of regulations in different parts of the world, disrupting shipping’s supply chain and making day-to-day ship management and operation immensely more complex.

This latest development appears to make this possibility even more likely.