Germans lash out at MEPC proposal

At a just-ended meeting, the IMO’s MEPC agreed to recommend that the introduction of Tier 111 NOx limits be delayed by five years from the currently planned 2016 to 2021.

But in a hard-hitting German-language statement the Hamburg-based German shipbuilding industry association VSM together with the Engines and Systems Division of the powerful German Engineering Industry association VDMA urged the MEPC to reverse the recommendation and stick to the agreed timetable.

“A delay in introducing lower Nitrogen Oxide limits would jeopardise investment, jobs and innovative strength and endanger the environmental credibility of the IMO”, the statement said. It added the delay was “completely unnecessary, technically unsubstantiated and would jeopardise already pledged investment as well as lead to considerable and avoidable pollution”.

The statement also said that the repeated questioning of already agreed IMO decisions would “enormously damage the investment security of maritime companies in both the manufacturing and utilisation sectors”.

VSM head Reinhard Lueken said rules which were both dependable and internationally binding were absolutely essential for shipping and shipbuilding. The latest MEPC decision “recklessly jeopardises both”, he charged.

The statement drew attention to the leading role being played by German engine builders, emission control plant manufacturers and shipyards in developing eco-friendly and economic ships. These firms had all been working intensely towards 2016 and investing heavily in research and product development to ensure that the technology required for more demanding emission limits would be met by 2016, it said.

Ralf Soren Marquand, who represents the Community of European Shipyard Associations (CESA) at the IMO said: “The European shipbuilding industry has proved that stricter NOx limits are technically possible. So we are optimistic that this very surprising IMO decision will be reversed at the next meeting”, he added.