Criticism of shipping disappointing and disconcerting

Shipping should not be a ?scapegoat? for damage to the world environment, says the head of the IMO, Efthimios Mitropoulos. The IMO Secretary-General speaking in London at the opening of the IMO?s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) said the shipping industry had a “fine record. It is against such a background that I have found recent criticism both disappointing and disconcerting,” he said.

In particular, he explained, he took issue with shipping being presented “as disproportionately responsible for air pollution and climate change. The criticism, by some politicians, civil servants and certain media representatives, is often ill-founded and inaccurate and seems to confuse work on air pollutants with that aiming at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”

He went on: “Nobody can claim monopoly over the environment and international shipping should not be allowed to become a scapegoat for those who find it a soft target.” “I expect the response of this Organization to challenges that threaten the environment, to be a resounding ?yes? to all measures needed to protect and preserve it – as long as they are realistic, pragmatic, workable and cost-effective and as long as efforts to improve one aspect of a ship’s performance do not lead to deterioration in other areas of transport and energy.”

The week-long meeting of the MEPC is expected to finalize and approve amendments to MARPOL Annex VI, the regulations to reduce harmful emissions from ships. Attention is focused on how much support the committee will give to calls to shift the bunker industry away from residual fuel and towards the exclusive use of distillate products.

Before the meeting broke into working groups Mitropoulos told delegates: “Your task will not be easy at times; the stakes are high and the expectations even higher – failure is not, therefore, an option. However, I am confident that, with IMO’s renowned spirit of co operation you will rise to the challenge, respond to the expectations and, thus, serve well the worthy cause of protecting and preserving the environment.”