Environment

The main reasons behind the topic of alternative fuel vehicles becoming a serious safety concern are the enormous growth of the alternative fuel vehicles fleet, the potential fire risks of these vehicles and a high uncertainty on the associated fire characteristics, EMSA notes and issued in response a guide providing recommendations for the safe carriage of alternative fuel vehicles onboard ships.

In the guide, EMSA highlights that risk assessment should be conducted for each ship to ensure that risks arising from the carriage of the AFVs that might affect persons onboard, the environment, the safety of the ship are addressed. Continue reading “Key tips for the safe carriage of alternative fuel vehicles in Ro-Ro spaces published by EMSA”

A proposal to ban the worldwide dumping of sewage sludge into the oceans has been made to the IMO by South Korea and Mexico. The proposal is being made some 50 years after the ’Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter 1972’, known as the ‘London Convention’, was drawn up to protect the marine environment from human activities.

In 1996 it was updated to include a so-called ‘reverse list’, which listed certain wastes that could be dumped – and it included sewage sludge. This latest proposal seeks to remove sewage sludge from the list of waste considered acceptable to dump in the sea. Continue reading “Proposal to ban sewage sludge dumping made to IMO”

The illegal dumping of oily wastewater into the ocean from ships, by using a bilge pump, is likely much more widespread than previously known and largely goes unpunished, according to an investigation from German media company DW. Despite oily waste dumping being prohibited globally under the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), it continues to be shockingly common as vessels continue to pollute the world’s ocean with oil wastewater. Continue reading “DW investigation reveals bilge pump dumping at sea is a bigger problem than most realise”

As new requirements for managing biofouling on international vessels arriving in Australia will begin on 15 June 2022, more countries around the world have already established similar biofouling regulations to address the effects.

The transfer of invasive aquatic species to new environments via ships has been identified by the IMO as a major threat to the world’s oceans and to the conservation of biodiversity, hence the need for enhanced biofouling regulations. Continue reading “Status update on biofouling regulations around the world”