Loss Prevention Advice
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Russia has introduced Government Decree No. 311 of 9 March banning the export of, inter alia, a number of goods. The risk of ships with a connection to Western European states being detained and confiscated in Russian ports has increased.
The Norwegian Maritime Authority knows that ships have been detained in Russian ports. So far, this has not involved ships flying the Norwegian flag.
When planning to call at a port in Russia, it is important to consider the content of the mentioned Decree, as well as the risk of being selected for a port State control inspection, and possibly detention.
Shipping companies should exercise extreme caution and, in the light of the current situation, evaluate whether they need legal assistance in dealing with Russia.
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IMO’s Legal Committee approved a circular on Guidance on the impact of the situation in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov on insurance or other financial security certificates. This followed the decision of the IMO Council at its Extraordinary Session earlier in March to request IMO Committees to consider ways to enhance the efforts of Member States and observer organizations in supporting affected seafarers and commercial vessels and consider the implications of this situation for the implementation of the Organization’s instruments, take appropriate action and report back to Council.
The circular notes that a number of relevant IMO liability and compensation treaties require that State Parties issue certificates attesting that insurance or other financial security which meets the requirements of the conventions is in force. The introduction of economic sanctions may in some cases restrict the insurers or other financial security providers from processing claims or prohibit the payment of claims arising under these conventions.
The circular recommends, in particular, that flag or certifying States issuing certificates based on Russian insurers or Russian financial security providers should verify that the coverage meets the criteria outlined in Circular Letter No.3464 – which provides guidance for accepting “Blue Cards” or similar documentation from insurance companies for specified treaties.
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On January 28th, 2022, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the General Customs jointly published a document for Vessels Engaged in International Voyages which came into force on February 15th, 2022 and concerns prevention and control measures against COVID-19.
This document called “Announcement on Effectively Implementing Remote Prevention and Control Measures of the COVID-19 for Vessels Engaged in International Voyages” requires that vessels on international voyages scheduled to change crew at Chinese ports, should carry out COVID-19 tests.
In addition, this announcement stipulates that the vessels should implement prevention and control measures from 48h before their departure from the last overseas port to one day before their arrival at Chinese ports.
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Progress on developing draft lifecycle GHG and carbon intensity guidelines for marine fuels and assessment of impacts of GHG measures has been made by an IMO working group.
The Intersessional Working Group on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships (ISWG-GHG 11), which met 14-18 March, considered proposals on how to keep the impacts of the short-term measure under review and proposals for the revision of the ship fuel oil consumption Data Collection System (DCS).
The short-term measure to reduce carbon intensity was adopted as amendments to MARPOL Annex VI in June 2021 and includes the Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index (EEXI), annual operational carbon intensity indicator (CII) and CII rating.
The Working Group’s report will be submitted to the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) at its next session in June (MEPC 78, 6-10 June 2022).
Lifecycle GHG emission guidelines for marine fuels
The Working Group noted the urgency of the development of draft lifecycle GHG and carbon intensity guidelines for marine fuels as expressed by many delegations to facilitate investment decisions, and following detailed discussions aimed to finalize the draft guidelines at MEPC 79.