The International Maritime Organization, a unit of the United Nations charged with controlling ship pollution, will propose new rules that would cut emissions from vessels at a meeting in Mexico.
The IMO will outline proposals to create mandatory ship- efficiency management plans and an energy-efficiency design index for newly constructed vessels during the United Nations Climate Change conference in Cancun, Mexico, next week.
The proposals will then be considered for adoption by the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee when it meets in July next year, the IMO said by e-mail today.
Shipowners are considering alternative fuels including liquefied natural gas and nuclear power as the pressure to cut pollution from the industry intensifies. The main fuel type for merchant shipping presently is heavy fuel oil, the sludge left over once crude oil has been processed into gasoline, jet fuel, and other more valuable refined products.
