The seventy-third session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 73) was held at the IMO in London, U.K. from 22 to 26 October 2018. Since the minutes, resolutions and circulars of the meeting were recently released from the IMO, a summary of the decisions taken at MEPC 73 is provided as below for your information.

1. Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions
Measures to reduce GHG emissions from international shipping have been deliberated at IMO, and so far, the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI), the Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP) and the Data Collection System for fuel oil consumption of ships (DCS) was introduced. Further, at MEPC 72, Initial IMO Strategy on reduction of GHG emissions from ships, which included emission objectives and their candidate measures, was adopted.

(1) Review of technological developments for EEDI
Regulation 21.6 of MARPOL Annex VI sets out that a review of the status of technological developments which may contribute to the improvement of EEDI should be conducted at the beginning of phase 1 and at the midpoint of phase 2. It also requires, if proved necessary, to amend the subsequent requirements, i.e. "when to start the phase 3", "the EEDI reference line parameters" and "the reduction rate". At MEPC 71, it was agreed to establish a correspondence group (CG), coordinated by Japan, to consider an early implementation of phase 3 and possible introduction of phase 4 and the group to report to MEPC 74.
At this session, an interim report of the CG was considered as follows.

For tankers and bulk carriers, it was agreed that:
- the starting year for EEDI phase 3 requirements of 2025 should be retained;
- the required reduction rate for phase 3 of the 30% should be retained; and
- the parameters for determination of reference values should be retained.
For containerships, it was agreed:
- that the starting year of EEDI phase 3 requirements should be 2022;
- in principle, that the 40% reduction should be applied to all containerships; and
- that the parameters for determination of reference values should be retained.
For general cargo ships, it was agreed that the starting year of EEDI phase 3 requirements should be 2022.

(To be continued)