Chamber fires back at Branson’s web site

Chamber fires back at Branson’s web site    The International Chamber of Shipping is expressing “serious concern” about an online database of efficiency data for 60,000 ships published by the Carbon War Room, an environmental initiative led by Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Atlantic airlines.

Branson

   “The Energy Efficiency Design Index, developed by the International Maritime Organization, has been used completely out of context,' said Peter Hinchliffe, secretary general of the chamber. 'While the EEDI is an important benchmarking tool to help ships reduce their carbon emissions, it was not created to compare individual ships of different types with each other. Ships have very different construction and safety requirements, depending on their type and trade, which can cause their energy consumption to vary greatly.”
   He added, “IMO methodology has not been approved for use with all types of ship. It is therefore inappropriate for the Carbon War Room to use this methodology to derive scores for completely different classes of ships. While the database may appear to show some shipping companies in a good light, it is not appropriate for the EEDI to be used as a tool by charterers to select more efficient ships, or for ports to use the data when setting their dues.”
   Hinchliffe said, “Shipping is already the most carbon efficient form of commercial transport, at least 30 times more so than cargo aviation, and the high cost of marine fuel — due to escalate further as it switches to low sulphur fuels — already means that ship owners have every incentive to reduce their fuel consumption even more.”
   He also said the global shipping industry fully supports the package of carbon dioxide emission reduction measures that has been developed by its regulator, the IMO, which is expected to be adopted for worldwide application next July — provided the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancun 'gives IMO the mandate it requires to complete its important work.'