MEPC 80 – Summary of Outcomes

Published: 10 July 2023

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Guidelines on life cycle GHG intensity of marine fuels 

These Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Guidelines provide guidance on life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity assessment for all fuels and other energy carriers (eg electricity) used on-board a ship. They aim to cover the whole fuel life cycle (with specific boundaries), from feedstock to conversion into a fuel product, transportation from production to bunkering, and fuel use onboard a ship.  

The guidelines also specify sustainability criteria for marine fuels. At this stage, the following ten aspects are included, but other social and economic sustainability aspects may be included at a later stage: 

1. GHG Carbon source 
2. Source of electricity and/or energy 
3. Carbon stock – Direct Land Use Change (DLUC) 
4. Carbon stock – Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC) 
5. Water 
6. Air 
7. Soil 
8. Waste and chemicals 
9. Conservation

The guidelines also introduce a Fuel Lifecycle Label (FLL), which is a tool to collect and convey the information relevant for the life cycle assessment (LCA) of marine fuels and electricity provided by onshore power supply.    

The LCA guidelines will be kept under review, as IMO continues to work on sustainability criteria for fuels, how to reduce the risk of ILUC for biomass used for fuel feedstocks, as well as certification and third-party verification of fuels.   

Indirect Land Use Change means land use change outside the area of focus, that occurs as a consequence of change in use or management of land within the area of focus, such as through market or policy drivers. For example, if agricultural land is diverted to biofuel production, forest clearance may occur elsewhere to replace the former agricultural production. (Definition from IPCC Special Report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems from 2019) 

Interim guidance on the use of biofuels  

An MEPC circular on interim guidance on the use of biofuels in relation to IMO Data Collection System (DCS) and the Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) framework was approved. 

It was noted that the approval of the interim guidance should not, in any case, prejudge future decisions on the application of LCA frameworks to any kind of fuels, including biofuels, following further development of the LCA guidelines. 

This interim guidance will be withdrawn immediately upon the future inclusion of a well-to-wake GHG methodology for biofuels in the LCA Guidelines. 

The guidance states that biofuels that have been certified by an international certification scheme, such as the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) certification schemes, meeting its sustainability criteria, referring to the sustainability criteria of the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), and that provide a well-to-wake GHG emissions reduction of at least 65% compared to the well-to-wake emissions of fossil MGO of 94 gCO2e/MJ (i.e. achieving an emissions intensity not exceeding 33 gCO2e/MJ) according to that certification, may be assigned a carbon factor (Cf) equal to the value of the well-to-wake GHG emissions of the fuel according to the certificate multiplied by its lower calorific value (LCV). 

In addition, 

• The recognised documentation for the labelling “sustainable” should be provided along with the Bunker Delivery Note (BDN), to facilitate the verification of the reported biofuel consumption
• For blended fuels, the Cf should be based on the weighted average of the Cf for the respective amount of fuels by energy
• Biofuels not certified as ʺsustainableʺ or not fulfilling the well-to-wake emission factor criterion should be assigned a Cf equal to the Cf of the equivalent fossil fuel type

The LCA Guidelines, as approved by MEPC 80, together with the interim guidance on the use of biofuels will be provided to members when published by the IMO. 

Designation of a PSSA in the North-Western Mediterranean Sea to protect cetaceans from international shipping 

To minimise the risk of ship strikes with cetaceans and ship-generated pollution and to protect the area's unique and threatened species as well as to preserve as far as practicable its critical habitat and diversity a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA) was designated in the North-Western Mediterranean Sea. In this are mariners should exercise extreme care when navigating in the area bounded by the geographical coordinates of this area.  

• The associated protective measures (APMs) which are recommendatory in nature apply 
• Mariners should navigate with particular caution within the NW Med PSSA, in areas where large and medium cetaceans are detected or reported, and reduce their speed to between 10 and 13 knots as voluntary speed reduction (VSR). However, throughout the PSSA a safe speed should be kept, so that proper and effective action could be taken to avoid collision and any possible negative impacts on ship's maneuverability  
• Mariners should keep an appropriate safety distance or speed reduction measure from any large and medium cetaceans observed or detected in a close quarter situation. The safety distance or speed reduction measure should be adapted to the actual navigation circumstances and conditions of the ship 
• Mariners should broadcast on VHF or other available means on scene, the position of medium and large cetaceans observed or detected within the designated PSSA and transmit the information and the position to a designated coastal Authority(ies) 
• Mariners should report any collision with cetaceans to a designated coastal Authority(ies), which should forward this information to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) global cetacean ship strikes database. 

Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden special areas under MARPOL Annexes I and V – discharge requirements in place from 1 January 2025 

Special Areas are defined under MARPOL Annexes I, IV and V as sea areas where, for recognised technical reasons in relation to their oceanographical and ecological conditions and to the particular character of their sea traffic, the adoption of special mandatory methods for the prevention of pollution of the sea from ships by oil, sewage or garbage, as applicable, is required. The Red Sea and Gulf of Aden are designated as a special area and following efforts from countries bordering the special area to put reception facilities in place discharge requirements will be in place from 1 January 2025. A Circular will be provided by the IMO by the end of 2023 and more details will then be provided to BIMCO members. 

Revised Guidelines of Places of Refuge for Ships in need of assistance 

MEPC followed the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) and the Legal Committee in approving the revised guidelines on places of refuge for ships in need of assistance. They will now go to the IMO Assembly for adoption.  As previously reported ,we will share the revised guidelines when made available IMO guidelines on Places of Refuge updated.

Ballast water management 

New guidance on Ballast water record-keeping and reporting 
MEPC 80 finalised the draft Guidance on matters relating to ballast water record-keeping and reporting BWM.2 Circular. As part of the development of this guidance, the Guidelines for ballast water management and development of Ballast Water Management Plans (G4) and the Guidelines for ballast water exchange (G6) were also amended which are needed to accommodate new guidance on record-keeping and reporting.  

New guidance for Electronic record book (ERB) 
MEPC 80 also finalised the Guidance for the use of electronic record books under the BWM Convention and consequential amendments to the Ballast water management convention have also been made to accommodate the new guidance on ERB.  

Challenging water quality (CWQ) 
The committee spent a number of hours finalising a guidance when ships encounter challenging water quality, however, owing to non-consensus on a few key issues this guidance was not able to be finalised at this session. Many delegations did however express interest in completing this guidance by MEPC 81 which will the very last opportunity available for getting this guidance out.  

Convention review plan (CRP) 
As part of the Experience building phase (EBP), Convention review plan (CRP), which is the last stage of the EBP is going well and the group was able to group the issues into 14 items. These will be further worked upon intersessionally in a correspondence and moved forward during the next session of the committee.