Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 81) - Opening remarks

Good morning distinguished delegates.

Welcome to the 81st session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee.

It is regrettable that I need to start this session of the Committee with the following statements.

The continued attacks by the Houthis against seafarers in the Red Sea are categorically unacceptable.

I would like to express my deepest condolences to the families of the victims of the attack on the vessel True Confidence. I would also like to extend my condolences to the delegations of the Philippines and Vietnam. My thoughts and those of the entire IMO family are with the families of the victims and with the seafarers who suffered serious injuries.

I strongly condemn all attacks. There should be no more casualties.

The pollution caused by the sinking of the Rubymar after it was attacked is another example of the negative and unnecessary effects. And whilst we work tirelessly in reducing emissions from international maritime transport, ships are being forced to navigate longer routes, thereby increasing such emissions in order to guarantee the safety of seafarers and maintain the global distribution of essential goods for the benefit of the world’s population.

The whole world depends on international shipping and seafarers. Without seafarers there will be no shipping and therefore no trade. 

It is unacceptable to hold innocent seafarers as hostages. I call for the immediate release of the Galaxy Leader and its crew. Tomorrow these seafarers will have been held hostage for four months.

The situation is now even further complicated by the fact that 23 crew members of Bangladesh nationality aboard the MV Abdullah are being held hostage after the attack carried out by Somali pirates on 11 March 2024, approximately 500 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia. I am closely monitoring the situation and express my appreciation for the efforts of Member States involved in Operation ATALANTA to coordinate the most efficient and effective action. 

After this negative news, I would like to congratulate the Indian Navy on the successful release of the 17 crew members of MV Ruen, who had been held by pirates since December 2023.

I call on all of you to redouble your efforts and reach out to those holding seafarers and ships hostage - and causing these attacks - to stop and allow the necessary trade for everyone on this planet to continue in the customary safe and secure manner.

As many of you may already be aware, this year's World Maritime theme is: "Navigating the future: safety first!". 

The theme underscores our unwavering commitment to upholding the highest safety standards across all aspect of this Organization's regulatory work while facing the challenges of a fast-changing world, in particular with respect to developments in technology, artificial intelligence and new threats challenging the shipping industry. 

This theme is also of great importance for the work of your Committee, as maritime safety and marine environment protection are closely interlinked. 

As I am sure you all remember, MEPC 80 in July last year adopted the 2023 IMO Strategy on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships. This Strategy sets an ambitious goal of achieving net-zero GHG emissions by or around, i.e. close to, 2050. 

To achieve this goal, concerted action is required, and this week your Committee will further consider proposals on candidate mid-term measures; a progress report on the Steering Committee on the conduct of the comprehensive impact assessment of the basket of candidate mid-term measures; and the further development of the life cycle GHG intensity assessment framework. 

The various updated proposals for technical and economic measures and the discussions during last week’s ISWG-GHG 16 clearly demonstrate your commitment to advance the developments of these measures, making sure that IMO delivers on the levels of ambition in the 2023 IMO GHG Strategy. 

Decarbonizing the maritime industry is a big challenge, but also an opportunity to align the international shipping sector with global commitments on climate change and sustainability. 

Turning to ballast water management, you have before you the very significant task of finalizing and approving the list of provisions and instruments to be revised or developed under the experience-building phase, to provide the basis for the development of a package of amendments to the BWM Convention. 

In addition, you will consider a variety of related matters, including proposals concerning the application of the BWM Convention to ships operating in challenging water conditions; the temporary storage of treated sewage and grey water in ballast tanks; and the approval of ballast water management system modifications after type approval.

Concerning marine plastic litter, the urgency of taking action to prevent ship-source spills of plastic pellets was underscored by the pellet spill and resulting pollution event along the coast of north-western Spain in December of last year. In this regard, you will be invited to approve, as an urgent matter and pending further work on the subject, recommendations for the carriage of plastic pellets by sea in freight containers, finalized by PPR 11.

Your Committee will also be invited to consider and adopt at this session a number of amendments to mandatory instruments, including amendments to the Ballast Water Management Convention concerning the use of electronic record books; to Article V of Protocol I of MARPOL concerning revised reporting procedures for the loss of containers; and to MARPOL Annex VI concerning a number of air pollution prevention related issues, together with the adoption of associated guidelines. 

You will also consider two proposals for the designation of Emission Control Areas, one in Canadian Arctic Waters; and the other in the Norwegian Sea.

You have important matters to address this week, but I am confident that, under the expert guidance of your Chair, Mr. Harry Conway of Liberia, ably supported by your Vice-Chair, Mr. Hanqiang Tan of Singapore, as well as the staff of the Marine Environment Division together with the staff of supporting divisions, you will be able to successfully achieve the objectives set for this session.

I extend best wishes to all of you for every success in your deliberations; and I invite you all to join me and the Secretariat at my welcome reception in the Delegates' Lounge after the close of today's business.

Thank you.

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