A mixed week at IMO

A LOT of painstaking, necessarily slow work takes place in the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Someone closely involved told me recently that being part of the IMO process often seems significantly less exciting than watching paint dry.

However, last week's meeting of IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 68) dealt with several important subjects, some of them controversial.

The least controversial - and very welcome - outcome of MEPC 68 was confirmation that ships trading in the polar regions will have to comply with strict safety and environmental provisions specific to the harsh conditions in the Arctic and Antarctic. This follows the adoption of the environmental part of the International Code for ships operating in polar waters.