Maritime Industry fighting climate change

Photo by Peter Paul Barbara

Transport Malta welcomes important new global mandatory requirements for ships to mitigate climate change

The Marine Environment Protection Committee of the International Maritime Organisation at its 69th session held last week in London approved new global mandatory requirements for ships to record and report fuel consumption. The agreement was reached on Friday when World Earth Day was being celebrated and the day the Paris agreement on climate change was being signed by world leaders in New York, including Malta’s Prime Minister.

Transport Malta, as the regulator of maritime affairs in Malta welcomed the new data collection requirements hailed internationally as a significant contribution to the ongoing work by the international community to mitigate climate change.  This was also welcomed by the Malta International Shipowners Association and the international shipping community.

IMO member States also agreed to continue at the next MEPC session in November with their work to further address greenhouse gas emissions from ships. The mandatory data collection system is intended to be the first in a three-step process in which analysis of the data collected would provide the basis for an objective, transparent and inclusive policy debate on climate change mitigation from shipping. 

Malta, as befitting a leading maritime nation, is an active participant in the work of IMO and actively took part in a wide ranging discussion leading to the approval of a new mandatory data collection system. Malta was represented at the IMO meeting by senior officials of the Merchant Shipping Directorate within Transport Malta together with the Permanent Representation of Malta to IMO and support from industry.

The new agreement is yet another clear and positive signal about the firm commitment of the shipping industry to climate change mitigation. To date, IMO is the only Organisation to have adopted energy-efficiency measures that are legally binding across an entire global industry. Mandatory energy efficiency standards for new ships, and mandatory operational measures to reduce emissions from existing ships, entered into force in 2013. Thanks to those new measures, by 2025 all new ships built will be 30% more energy efficient than those built in 2013. 

IMO Secretary General Mr Kitack Lim welcomed the approval of the amendments and said “The work in the MEPC this week shows IMO’s strong commitment, as the global regulator of the shipping industry, to continue its work to address GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions from ships engaged in international trade. IMO has a major role to play in ensuring that the positive momentum towards climate change mitigation is translated into tangible and lasting improvements in people’s lives.”

Transport Malta reaffirmed its firm commitment to continue working together with its international and European partners, through the IMO, to further enhance the energy efficiency of the international shipping sector through a harmonised global regime. Transport Malta welcomes the support of the Malta International Shipowners Association in this direction.

Jellyfish dispersion model launched

   

Within the ambit of the MED-JELLYRISK (www.jellyrisk.eu) project, staff at the Physical Oceanography Research Group within the Department of Geosciences at the University of Malta (Dr. Anthony Galea, Mr. Denis Cutajar, Prof. Aldo Drago and Prof. Alan Deidun), with the assistance of technical staff from ISMAR-CNR in Italy, have launched a jellyfish dispersion model through which users, after registering, can track the forecasted pathway, for the next four (4) days, of a jellyfish bloom they observe in the waters around the Maltese Islands. The model is publicly available through an online interface available at www.capemalta.net/jellyfishmodel.

Upon registering, users will receive an email with credentials through which to make a query to the model, by selecting the marine area where the jellyfish bloom was observed and also the extent of the bloom, density of jellyfish it held and to which species did the bloom belong. Simulations can be run for two different jellyfish species – the mauve stinger Pelagia noctiluca and the fried-egg jellyfish Cotylorhiza tuberculata – which are treated diffently by the model on the basis of differences in their hydrodynamic properties. After a few minutes, the model will output several maps showing the forecasted trajectory of the same jellyfish bloom and highlighted which coastal stretches are more likely to be impacted by beaching of the same bloom components.

The aim of the model is to implementing a decision-support system for coastal managers by providing an early warning system of the occurrence of high jellyfish densities within particular stretches. The core of the system is constituted by two different nested numerical models, an open ocean (ROSARIO6420) and a coastal area (SHYFEM) 3D hydrodynamic model. The system (ROSARIO-SHYFEM) is operational and provides daily a 4 days forecast of the main 3D hydrodynamics fields for the areas covering the Malta-Sicily Channel with a spatial resolution varying between a few km up to 50 m. The ROSARIO-SHYFEM model was coupled with a particle-tracking Lagrangian model and used in order to simulate bothsurface water circulation and the transport and diffusion of numerical particles, proxy of jellyfish, inside the area of interest. Besides providing a 4-day forecast for the trajectory of a jellyfish bloom, the developed system can also provide a hindcast for the same trajectory, using archived values for a set of hydrodynamic and biogeochemical parameters still generated through the ROSARIO-SHYFEM system.

In the coming months, the same model will be validated through the analyses of trajectories taken by various typologies of drifters.

MED-JELLYRISK is a 3-year-long project, funded under the framework of the ENPI-CBC MED framework, which involves the participation of 5 countries hailing from four countries (Italy, Tunisia, Spain and Malta), including the University of Malta, which is represented by the Physical Oceanography Research Group and by the Department of Biology. Within the same project, a number of other initiatives have been embarked upon, all aimed at improving the coastal management facilities dealing with jellyfish. These include, the development of a smart phone app (MED-JELLY), the organisation of a training school in Barcelona for students pursuing jellyfish and zooplankton studies, the installation of jellyfish research facilities in Tunisia, the installation of anti-jellyfish nets in the participating countries (including one at Pretty Bay in Malta) and the printing of different manuals and booklets providing information on the treatment of jellyfish stings and on the taxonomic identification of different jellyfish species occurring within local waters. Such publications are all available for free download from www.jellyrisk.eu/downloads.

World Maritime Day

Malta commemorates World Maritime Day 2015

During this week, Malta is joining the international maritime community to celebrate the World Maritime Day. Malta commemorates this occasion on the same day as IMO (International Maritime Organisation), on Thursday 24^th September 2015.

The theme for World Maritime Day in 2015 as approved by the Council of the Organisation is Maritime Education and Training.

This year’s theme was chosen in order to focus on maritime education and training, two areas that are essential for the long-term sustainability of the sector, both at sea and on-shore.

Minister Joe Mizzi remarked that Malta acknowledges the important role IMO has in ensuring that effective standards of training remain the bedrock of a safe and secure shipping industry, which needs to preserve the quality, practical skills and competence of qualified human resources. Maritime Malta pays tribute to IMO for its success in building maritime partnerships that are the basis of ensuring globally applicable standards essential for serving on boat ships, skills and competence of seafarers, and indeed, the human element ashore maintained through effective maritime education and training.

Malta has been a member of the IMO since 1966 having acceded in June of that year to the UN convention establishing this organisation. As an international maritime centre and in particular as one of the largest shipping registers in the world, Malta is an active participant at IMO. Malta is also proud of its direct association with two very important international centres run by IMO and located in Malta, namely the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC) and the IMO International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI). Both institutions have a distinct objective to ensure that maritime administrators have a well developed and suitably trained human resource.

The Minister for Transport and Infrastructure reiterated Malta’s uninterrupted support for the work of IMO and the importance Government continues to attach to the further development and upgrading of the marine sector in a sustainable manner that would really meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Transport Malta coordinating oil spill clean-up

Transport Malta is investigating an oil spill at Malta Freeport Terminals

Transport Malta is coordinating the clean-up operation of an oil spill that was reported at the Malta Freeport Terminal in Marsaxlokk this morning.

The basin of terminal 1 and 2 was boomed to ensure that no oil drifts to the public beaches and remains contained within the segregated area. Transport Malta personnel were on site early this morning to coordinate operations and to ensure that all action is taken to minimise impact to third parties.

From initial investigations, the spill occurred when a hose failed during a bunkering operation. Action was taken by the bunker operator to boom the vessels and contain the spill. Some heavy oil ended up on board the bunker barge and some drifted into the inner side of the basin where some vessels have been affected.

Port Inspectors are currently on site to monitor the cleanup operation which is being undertaken by the bunker operator.

Shipping traffic at the Freeport Terminals is presently suspended until the port is deemed safe for navigation and that no oil is spread further within the area.

Oil Spill Exercise

Transport Malta conducts simulation exercises on handling oil pollution and ships in need of assistance

Transport Malta, in conjunction with the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), the European Commission, Member States and several local and international industry organisations and stakeholders, has over the past 2 days successfully concluded exercises on handling oil pollution and ships in need of assistance.

On Tuesday the first exercise took place to test the recently introduced ‘Places of Refuge EU Operational Guidelines’ which govern the accommodation of vessels in need of assistance, namely ships in danger of capsizing or causing an environmental or navigational hazard.  The guidelines were drawn up by a working group formed by Member States including Malta, under the chairmanship of the European Commission and facilitated by EMSA.

The drafting of such guidelines was triggered by various past incidents involving ships in need of assistance. Most notably, the incident on the MSC Flaminia, a container ship that caught fire forcing the crew to abandon the ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, has emphasised the need for enhanced cooperation. It led to discussions as to whether the existing rules and operational practices, in particular when more than one state is involved, are sufficient when Member States have to take tough decisions on  offering a safe haven to a ship in need of assistance. This is the second time such an EU wide exercise is held. Apart from Malta, participants included 18 other EU Member States and one EFTA State, the European Commission, EMSA, the Armed Forces of Malta and the Physical Oceanography Research Group at the University of Malta as well as both local and international industry organisations

The second exercise on Wednesday, involved simulating the response to and cleaning up of an oil spill incident occurring off the coast of Xagħjra. The primary aim of such exercise, held annually as part of Malta’s international obligations under the OPRC Convention, is to attest Malta’s preparedness to handle such incidents whilst ensuring that all synergies are in place in case an oil spill incident had to occur in territorial waters. A number of participating response vessels have deployed response equipment such as booms and skimmers to simulated cleanup operation.

Vessels from Tankship Management and Falzon Group (EMSA), Cassar Ship Repair Yard and Tug Malta participated in this exercise. Other participants included the Malta Maritime Pilots, the Armed Forces of Malta, MEPA, the Civil Protection, the Police Force, the Department of Fisheries the physical Oceanography Research Group and the Health Department (A&E and Environmental Health Directorate). The exercise was directed from TM’s Emergency Control Centre at Marsa.

Mexican tall ship in Grand Harbour

Photo by Peter Paul Barbara

The Cuauhtémoc, a 270-foot tall ship, was in Malta for a few days.  She left this morning.  The imposing training ship of the Mexican Navy has three masts, 23 sails and a complement of 225 sailors.

Earlier this week a delegation from the ship led by the commander of the vessel Captain Pedro Mata Cervantes paid a courtesy visit to Capt. David Bugeja, Harbour Master at Transport Malta.

Photo by Peter Paul Barbara

Photo by Peter Paul Barbara

Photo by Peter Paul Barbara

Retracing the Maritime Silk Road

Photo by Peter Paul Barbara

The famous Chinese artist and sailor Zhai Mo,  the first Chinese to circumnavigate the globe solo on a sailing boat, arrived in Malta. Zhai Mo and his crew are retracing the Ancient Maritime Silk Road, an initiative in response to a call by Chinese President Xi Jinping to build a Silk Road Economic belt, a Maritime Silk Road of the 21st Century.

Zhai Mo started the journey from China and visited six countries before coming to Malta

Transport Malta facilitated the logistics of the welcome into the Grand Harbour.

Photo by Peter Paul Barbara

Photo by Peter Paul Barbara

Photo by Peter Paul Barbara

Oil Spill Response

Stakeholders Discuss Training Needs to Address Oil Spill Response Capability for the Protection of Malta’s Seas

Transport Malta has joined forces with the Norwegian Coastal Administration (Kystverket) to implement a project called “‘Oil/HNS Spill Response Capacity Building for the Protection of Malta’s Seas”. The project, costing €613,881, is being co-funded (85%) by the European Economic Area (EEA) Grants (Programme Area 7 – Adaption to Climate Change). The project aims to address oil and HNS spill response training and revise the current version of the National Marine Pollution Contingency Plan to incorporate a section on offshore drilling risks.

On Friday, as part of the project, Transport Malta together with Gorton Consultancy Ltd organized a half day workshop to discuss the various aspects of the project with the government stakeholders and relevant NGOs and presented the oil/HNS pollution response training programme as indentified by the Consultants.

This project is a continuation to the 2004-09 project “Setting up of an Oil Spill Response Capability for the Protection of Malta’s Seas.”  One of the proposals of the 2004-09 project was that Malta needs to identify and train appropriate personnel and suggested to further study the risks emanating from offshore oil drilling operations. These measures are now being implemented through this new project aimed at further strengthening Malta’s capacity to respond to oil/HNS spills. The Offshore oil drilling risks studies were completed last April and were presented to all stakeholders by Dr. Saviour Scerri.

Over the past years Transport Malta has invested heavily in training and equipment that will enable the Authority to meet their challenges and responsibilities in monitoring local waters.

Fireworks display in Balluta

Fireworks displays will be let off from a barge moored in the middle of Balluta Bay in St. Julians between the 24th July 2015 and 26th July 2015. Mariners having vessels moored in the middle of Balluta Bay are to remove them immediately.

Mariners are not to enter Balluta Bay during the displays on the mentioned dates.

Transport Malta is investigating an Oil spill at Qajjenza

Transport Malta is investigating an Oil spill at Qajjenza

Transport Malta is investigating the cause of an oil spill that was reported at San Lucian Oil Terminal in Qajjenza (Marsaxlokk Harbour). Port Inspectors are currently on site to monitor the cleanup operation which is being undertaken by the terminal operator. The oil spill has been contained. The cause of the spill has not been identified at this stage but tests are currently being made to assess whether there was an underwater pipeline breach.