US regulator allows TSA to talk strategy

Transpacific Stabilisation Agreement (TSA) carriers will be allowed to discuss strategies aimed at reducing pollution and saving fuel following a ruling by the US Federal Maritime Commission.

Topping the carrier discussion agenda will be slow steaming that has been identified as a "vital step that can yield immediate results" in the drive to cut costs and curb ship emissions.

TSA chairman YM Kim, who is also CEO of Korea-based Hanjin Shipping Co, said the commission ruling would allow the 15 member carriers to work together "to address strategies and best practices that ensure both environmental protection and trade growth".

However, the ruling will come as no surprise to shipper groups in Asia that have long complained of the TSA's immunity from US anti-trust laws that allows it to meet and discuss issues relating to freight rates and surcharges.

TSA executive administrator Brian Conrad said in a statement that although environmental issues and strategies were a new area of involvement for TSA, it was in many ways "a logical progression".

"Environmental programmes are going to play a critical role and entail major investment in carrier operations; it makes commercial sense that these be undertaken, where feasible, based on joint research, sharing of best practices, and coordination to promote environmental responsibility and operational efficiency," he said.

Slow steaming on the major trade routes has the two-fold benefit of saving fuel and lowering emissions, and has become common among the world's carriers. Under slow steaming, carriers reduce the speeds of a string of vessels, with each ship burning significantly less fuel and producing lower emissions.

The TSA statement said industry studies had shown that a reduction in vessel speed from 24 to 18 knots per hour reduced consumption of marine bunker fuel by 60 percent; reduced consumption of heavy marine diesel oil used in onboard operations from 190 to 177 tonnes per sailing; and cut vessel CO2 emissions by more than 350 tons a day on a sailing lasting from two to four weeks or more, depending on route.

Kim said carriers needed to share information that would help them reduce emissions without disrupting service levels.

Source: Cargo News ASia