IMO panel to debate quicker phase-out of single-hull tankers

IMO panel to debate quicker phase-out of single-hull tankers    The International Maritime Organization’s Marine Environment Protection Committee, meeting July 14-18 in London, will discuss proposals from all 15 member states of the European Union to accelerate a timetable to phase out single-hull tankers, the IMO said Friday.
   The European Union has also asked for an immediate ban on the carriage of heavy grades of oil in single-hull tankers, and for the IMO’s Conditional Assessment Scheme, adopted in 2001 after the 1999 Erika incident, to be applied to tankers 15 years and older.
   Belgium, France, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom have asked the committee to designate a “particularly sensitive sea area” in which single-hull tankers would be prohibited, covering a wide expanse of ocean west of those countries.
   The Marine Environment Protection panel’s agenda also includes discussion of ballast water management and greenhouse gas emissions from ships.
   The committee, chaired by Andreas Chrysostomou of Cyprus, will also consider a proposal from Australia and Papua New Guinea to extend the Great Barrier Reef’s “particularly sensitive sea area” to cover the Torres Strait Region.
   The IMO is the United Nations Specialized Agency with responsibility for the safety of shipping and the prevention of marine pollution by ships.