MEPC 84: Russia seeks changes to IMO database rules<\/p>\n
Russia tabled a last-minute proposal on the opening day of MEPC 84, seeking changes to Paragraph 12 of Regulation 27 under MARPOL Annex VI.<\/p>\n
Regulation 27 requires ships of 5,000 gross tonnage and above to collect and report fuel oil consumption data to the IMO Ship Fuel Oil Consumption Database.<\/p>\n
Paragraph 12 of this regulation states that \u201cThe Secretary-General of the Organization shall maintain an anonymized database such that identification of a specific ship will not be possible. Parties shall have access to the anonymized data strictly for their analysis and consideration.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russia proposed either deleting the paragraph entirely or amending it so that anonymised data could only be shared with other states with \u201cthe consent of the relevant flag state.\u201d<\/p>\n
The proposal was backed by several petrostates, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iran and Iraq, as well as India, Thailand, Nigeria and Ghana.<\/p>\n
The EU bloc, including Cyprus, Greece, Malta and France, alongside Brazil, opposed the proposal and called for the existing text to remain unchanged.<\/p>\n
The Marshall Islands, Cook Islands and Denmark said they were unable to take a position on the proposal due to the timing of the submission.<\/p>\n
MEPC Chair Harry T. Conway said changes could not be made through an informal floor intervention and would need to follow the IMO\u2019s formal submission and decision-making procedures.<\/p>\n
Member states were urged to consult among themselves, while Russia was asked to submit its proposal in writing if it wished to pursue it further.<\/p>\n
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