Noboru Ueda, Chairman and President of ClassNK, has called for class societies to play a more central role in industry efforts to reduce maritime GHG emissions and to help unite different sectors of industry in fighting the issue.
During a speech at Sea Asia 2011 in Singapore, Mr Ueda, who is also Chairman of the International Association of Classification Societies, called for greater leadership from the classification sector and said classification societies must take a leading role in protecting the environment and responding to the challenges of Green House Gas emissions.
Speaking during the ‘Regulations, Rules and Legislation’ session of Sea Asia’s Technical Day, Mr Ueda described the efforts of IACS towards the development of new environmental regulations, including establishing a new Expert Group, formed to advise the IMO of technical issues relating to its new EEDI scheme, in addition to efforts regarding implementation of the International Labour Organization’s Maritime Labour Convention.
Mr. Ueda said: “Classification societies are uniquely placed to take the lead in confronting the challenges posed by emissions and must serve as a bridge between all sectors of the industry.”
He also described the need for IACS to develop strong links with the maritime industry in general and highlighted IACS’ establishment of a Joint Working Group with other leading maritime bodies in December, devised to make balanced implementation of EEDI regulations an important part of that process. Mr Ueda said: “We at IACS have a duty to ensure the work we do and the contribution we make at the IMO reflects the needs, opinions and aspirations of the global maritime industry.”
Mr Ueda concluded with a special statement on behalf of the classification sector and said: “The international maritime community places a high level of trust in us, and that is a trust which we shall never betray.”
