Posted on: 23 May 2016
The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has published its 2016 Annual Review of maritime policy developments, in advance of the ICS Annual General Meeting, to be held in Tokyo from 1-3 June. This will be the final ICS AGM under the chairmanship of Masamichi Morooka (Japan), who will be stepping down after four years in office.
The ICS Annual Review is intended as a comprehensive overview of all the major issues faced by the global shipping industry, and in which ICS is engaged on behalf of its member national shipowners’ associations. The Annual Review will be of interest to anyone involved with international shipping, including shipping companies, maritime administrations and policy makers. It can be read free of charge from the ICS homepage.
Key issues covered include: ICS efforts to deliver further CO2 emissions reductions from the sector in response to the Paris Agreement on climate change; the status of IMO environmental regulations on low sulphur fuel and ballast water management; the impact of the rescue at sea crisis in the Mediterranean, and the serious economic crisis currently confronting many shipping sectors and trades.
The ICS Annual Review also provides updates on the wide-ranging scope of ICS’s activities as the principal global trade association for shipowners including: safety and operations, labour affairs, manning and training, maritime law and insurance, and shipping and trade policy.
In his final introduction to the ICS Annual Review, ICS Chairman, Masamichi Morooka, observes: “The authority of IMO continues to be challenged by unilateral rules, principally those emanating from the European Union and the United States. This is making the maintenance of an effective global regulatory framework increasingly complicated. The IMO global regime cannot and must not be taken for granted.”
Printed copies of the Annual Review are being distributed via ICS’s member national shipowners’ associations, which collectively represent all sectors and trades and more than 80% of the world merchant fleet. The 2016 ICS AGM is being hosted by the Japanese Shipowners’ Association.
