Richard Branson's Carbon War Room Takes Aim at 60,000 Ships
BY ARIEL SCHWARTZ
Sir Richard Branson, chairman of the Virgin Group and visionary industrialist, has decided to keep tabs on the carbon emissions of the gargantuan shipping industry. Branson's nonprofit Carbon War Room this week announced the creation of ShippingEfficiency.org, a site that ranks approximately 60,000 container ships, tankers, bulk carriers, cargo ships, cruise ships, and ferries with efficiency ratings.
LNG Heralds New Era for Oil Shipments
DNV's new VLCC concept - the "Triality" (image © DNV/Making Waves)
34% less CO2, 80% less NOx, 95% less PM and SOx
Det Norske Veritas AS (DNV) has introduced a new crude oil tanker concept that is fuelled by liquefied natural gas (LNG), has a hull shape that removes the need for ballast water and will almost eliminate local air pollution. This concept vessel also recovers hundreds of tons of cargo vapours on each voyage and represents a major step towards the new environmental era for the tanker shipping industry. The concept vessel, named Triality, has been developed through a DNV innovation project.
As its name indicates, Triality fulfils three main goals: it is environmentally superior to a conventional crude oil tanker, its new solutions are feasible and based on well known technology, and it is financially attractive compared to conventional crude oil tankers operating on heavy fuel oil.
IMO takes action pre-COP16
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has circulated proposed draft regulations to make mandatory technical and operational measures - previously proposed on a volutary basis - to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from ships on international trade.
The move follows a request by a number of States Parties to Annex VI of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution by Ships (MARPOL) to circulate the draft text.
The circulation of the proposed amendments to all 169 IMO Member States and three Associate Members comes as IMO prepares to participate in the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancún, Mexico (COP 16/CMP 6), where it will seek to ensure that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Parties continue to entrust IMO, which is the United Nations specialist agency with responsibility for safety and security at sea and protecting the environment from any negative impact that may derive from shipping, with developing and enacting global regulations to control GHG emissions from ships engaged in international trade.
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