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There is much to read about different approaches to low carbon shipping, but very little of it actually guides you, as a tanker operator, as to what you should do. ABS is aiming to fill this gap. A starting point for each shipping company could be to follow IMO’s targets of reducing carbon intensity by 40 per cent by 2030 and 70 per cent by 2050, says Sotirios Mamalis, manager sustainability, fuels and technology with ABS. Each company will have its own roadmap to do this, based on the composition of its fleet and operations.

For example, ABS designed a model for a shipping company operating 10 bulk carriers today (2020). It could achieve the 2030 target first by reducing speed of all vessels by one knot. In 2023, it could replace three of the vessels with new LNG fuelled vessels (or retrofit 3 of the vessels to run on LNG). In 2025, it could introduce biofuel into 3 of the other vessels. This would add up to a 49 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions over 2020 to 2030. We don’t need to change everything. ABS predicts that by 2050, 40 per cent of maritime fuels will still be oil based, while 35 per cent will be zero carbon fuels, either hydrogen or ammonia. A smaller fraction will be others, such as biofuels, methanol, LNG and LPG. More information: Tanker Operator

By 30 June 2020, ships that used EU ports in 2019 must carry onboard a document certifying that they have fulfilled their obligations under the EU regulation for monitoring, reporting and verification of CO2 emissions for the 2019 reporting period. The comparable deadline under the global IMO data collection system was 31 May 2020. The EU system for monitoring, reporting and verification of CO2 emissions from maritime transport requires ships above 5,000 gross tonnes calling at ports in the European Economic Area (EEA) to track and report key information about CO2 emissions, fuel consumption and other relevant information per voyage and on an annual basis, starting in 2018. Voyages that take place within the EEA are also covered, as are emissions occurring when the ship is securely moored or anchored at a port (at berth) whilst loading, unloading or hoteling. Any operation other than transportation of cargo or passengers for commercial purposes is excluded from the regulation. When the data produced by this ongoing monitoring activity have been reported to and successfully checked by an independent accredited verifier, a document of compliance (DoC) will be issued which confirms a ship’s compliance for a specific reporting period. A valid DoC has to be available for inspection onboard no later than 30 June of the year following the end of a reporting period. More information: Gard

BIMCO has produced a COVID-19 Crew Change Clause for Time Charter Parties, responding to the extraordinary circumstances faced by many owners whose crew have had to remain on board during the COVID-19 "lockdown" for periods often beyond their contracts of employment.

With funding from the European Commission, Fastwater will demonstrate the feasibility impact of methanol as pathway to fossil-free shipping. The project will focus on high impact outcomes, designing solutions for existing ships and newbuilding, demonstrating methanol as a future-proof marine fuel to create fast track to carbon-neutral shipping. Read more: Chamber of shipping