International Parcel Tankers Association
IPTA
IPTA members carry out the global transport of bulk liquids including petrochemicals, solvents, waxes and vegetable oils.
ID: 038926824584-64
Lobbying Activity
Response to Revision of the Shipping MRV Regulation
14 Jul 2017
The International Parcel Tankers Association welcomes progress made at the International Maritime Organization in developing a strategy for addressing Greenhouse Gas emissions from shipping, and in particular the adoption in 2016 of the MARPOL amendments to introduce the Data Collection System. IPTA further welcomes the initiative to review the EU MRV regulation in accordance with Article 22 of the regulation.
IPTA would agree with the statement in the preamble to the regulation that a global MRV system is preferable and for this reason would urge the Commission to revise the regulation to ensure full alignment with the IMO Data Collection system. The other options, namely No alignment and Partial alignment, would impose a massive administrative burden on the industry with no discernible advantage for the environment.
IPTA shares the concerns expressed by other industry associations in respect of three particular aspects of the EU MRV system, namely the method of verification of data, the metrics that will be used to measure efficiency and the publication of the data. While the maritime sector has a long-established structure for verifying compliance through the system of classification societies, the EU regulation seeks to introduce a system of verification used in other areas, such as emissions trading, which does not necessarily sit well in the maritime context. The metrics outlined in the regulation will not provide an accurate picture of the efficiency of individual ships, particularly for a sector such as chemical tankers, which has so many different operational demands on its fuel consumption dependent on what cargo or combination of cargoes is being carried at any particular time or season. This gives rise to particular concern with regard to the publication of data, since there is a real risk of ships being unfairly branded as inefficient, or indeed inefficient ships being rewarded at the expense of the truly efficient.
The letter of 7 July from the European Community Shipowners Association and others sets out the industry concerns in detail, and IPTA would seek to be associated with the views expressed therein.
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