The eighty-first session of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 81) was held from 18 to 22 March 2024. A summary of the discussions and the decisions taken at MEPC 81 is provided as below for your information.

1. Greenhouse Gases (GHG)
At MEPC 80 held in July 2023, the 2023 IMO Strategy on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships (2023 IMO GHG Strategy) was adopted, reinforcing the levels of ambition for reducing GHG emissions from international shipping. At this session at MEPC 81, measures already in force such as the Data Collection System for fuel oil consumption of ships (IMO DCS), Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index (EEXI) and Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) regulations were reviewed along with discussions on mid-term measures and lifecycle assessments of marine fuels with an aim to achieve the reinforced levels of ambition.

(1) Review of Data Collection System for fuel oil consumption of ships
The IMO DCS, under which operational data such as fuel oil consumption has been collected and reported since 2019, has been under review since 2022 to improve the items to be reported and the granularity of reported data. At MEPC 80, draft amendments to Appendix IX of MARPOL Annex VI were approved for amending/adding the items required to be reported in the IMO DCS.

At this session, the draft amendments approved at MEPC 80 were adopted to introduce the new items to be additionally reported such as total fuel oil consumption per combustion systems and total fuel oil consumption while the ship is not under way. (See Section 4.1 below for details.)

In addition, following the discussions on the definitions of the terms and measurements methods for the new items to be reported, the relevant amendments to the "Guidelines for the Development of a Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP)" and "Guidelines for Administration Verification of Ship Fuel Oil Consumption Data and Operational Carbon Intensity" were adopted, along with the details of "total transport work" calculated based on actual cargo carried during a voyage, etc.
(Refer to Res. MEPC.385(81) as attachment 2, Res. MEPC.388(81) as attachment 4 and Res. MEPC.389(81) as attachment 5)

(To be continued)