The shipping industry is highly regulated in many areas: economic, environmental, safety, security, and customs, just to name a few. At a time when political discourse around the world is often polarized and reactive, one of the challenges for a global industry such as shipping is to find a way to help governments maintain enough consistency in regulation to allow the industry to continue to support the world’s economy without unnecessary disruption.
No institution is perfect, but on the safety and environmental fronts, the International Maritime Organization has proved itself capable of finding solutions on issues that are technically and politically challenging. Work in 2018 will include preparing to implement two of the newest international environmental standards delivered by the International Maritime Organization: the installation of ballast water treatment systems required under the IMO’s Ballast Water Convention, and the global 0.5 percent marine fuel sulfur cap that will become effective Jan. 1, 2020.
2018 will be a big year for another global environmental issue: carbon emissions from ships. The IMO has set a 2018 deadline for agreeing to an initial strategy for reducing greenhouse gases from shipping, and I have every confidence that the IMO member countries will meet their deadline. If we can keep the focus on investment in technological advances within the shipping sector, we will be able to find real carbon reductions as we build on the strategy that the IMO will adopt this year.