News / 'Inconclusive' MEPC 82 set the stage for a CII showdown at next meeting

© Birdiegal717

The inconclusive outcome of IMO’s Meeting of the Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC 82) has set the stage for a major clash at next year’s event, in April, with sentiment appearing to lean towards a flat fee per tonne of CO2 emitted.

The Carbon Intensity Index (CII) is set to be reviewed by an inter-sessional working group with the outcome to be announced in March, a week before MEPC 83.

Delegates at 82 agreed on various shortcomings of the intensely unpopular IMO legislation, which they say unfairly penalises wait time in ports, a critical consideration for the feeder and shortsea segments.

As previously discussed, any measure which causes a drastic increase in the cost of shortsea shipping, relative to trucking, could  drive modal shift away from shipping, ultimately increasing CO2 emissions.

Peter Sand, Xeneta chief analyst, previously told The Loadstar that CII could bring about “…a situation in which carriers move their feeder ships onto longer trades a few times a year to improve their score, adjusting their offerings and potentially stopping a certain number of port calls, especially in the ports where carriers know waiting times are consistently long”.

Performance in adverse weather was also not taken into account, something delegates agreed was a matter of concern. Recently, a Finnish representative to the IMO, Eero Hokkanen, told The Loadstar CII lacked provision for the country’s vessels, which operate in ice for six months of each year and require ice-strengthened hulls and icebreaker assistance.

Some regarded the lack of a decision on CII as a kicking-of-the-can, with Delaine McCullough, president of NGO the Clean Shipping Coalition, criticising a “disturbing lack of progress” at MEPC 82.

“…the revision of the IMO’s CII has not been allocated the resources it needs to succeed,” she said.

But the World Shipping Council (WSC), whose members include MSC, CMA CGM, Wallenius Wilhelmsen and X-Press Feeders, claimed there had been “clear progress” on negotiations.

“The discussions have been very helpful in helping parties focus on the explicit, discrete, elements that have to be resolved,” said Brian Wood-Thomas, WSC VP environmental policy.

And Tristan Smith, UMAS co-founder and associate professor in energy and transport at UCL, said that member states should be “optimistic” that a measure was on the way, but should be “patient”.

“There is still a lot of work to be before approval at MEPC 83,” he added.