De Maribus

The 14th Regular Session of the Western & Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) adopted a series of Conservation and Management Measures (CMMs), including CMM 2017-02, Conservation and Management Measure on minimum standards for Port State Measures, issued the 7 December 2017. Bar the provisional application of CMM 2017-01 (1 January 2018), the CMMs are set to enter into force 6 February 2018.

For more information, see here.

The Ship Pollution Control Implementation Plan of Hainan Province, implemented 3 November 2017 to 3 December 2018, will include a port state inspection campaign. This will be  focused upon compliance with  the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973 as modified by the Protocol of 1978, Annex VI and the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments.

For more information see here (English translation), and here.

The Argentine National Sanitary Authorities (SENASA) has introduced Resolution 693-E/2017, which entered into force on 1 November 2017. This Resolution outlines a control system for the approval of holds/tanks of vessels and barges destined to export grains, its products and by-products. Specific criteria for when to object to or reject holds or tanks, such as the presence of live insects, loose rust scale, excessive humidity, etc., are included. This Resolution shall be applicable to all river and maritime ports. It will initially be in operation for a trial period of 1 year. The Resolution is available here (in Spanish) or here (English translation).

The Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig dismissed on 28 November 2017 the actions brought by the towns of Cuxhaven and Otterndorf, as well as by Elbe and coastal fishermen, against the planning approval decisions for the fairway adaptation in the lower and outer Elbe. The court said that while assessing the appeals it decided to give priority to the public interest stemming from the deepened Elbe waterway. The project, aimed at adjusting the navigation channel on the lower and outer Elbe river, would enable the Port of Hamburg to accommodate mega ships. Around 130 kilometers of the river is to be dredged, enabling container ships with a 14.5 meter draft to reach the port. More information may be found here (in German).

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/2178, 22 November 2017, amends Regulation (EU) No 468/2010 establishing the EU list of vessels engaged in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. As with previous amendments, the Union list is compiled from RFMO/A listed IUU fishing vessels (Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008, art. 30) and does not as yet make use of the unilateral listing procedure (Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008, art. 27(1)).

For more information see here (citation: OJ L 307, 23.11.2017, p. 14–24).

The Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment has announced a future ban on sewage waste deposits from ships within 12 nautical miles from land along the Norwegian coast and around Svalbard. The Minister has said that the regulations for such deposits will be stricter and that they will apply to all kinds of vessels, regardless of their size and how many persons they are certified to take. This will translate into a change of the requirements for sewage discharges from ships to the north and west of Lindesnes by the end of 2018. More information may be found here (in English, only on measures to combat marine litter) and, with more detail, here (in Norwegian). The letter of the Minister may be found here (in Norwegian).

On the 24 November 2017, the President of Mexico signed the Revillagigedo National Park Decree, establishing the Revillagigedo Archipelago National Park of approximately 14.8 million hectares. Fishing, resource extraction and construction will be restricted.

For more information see the official press release here and Pew Trust coverage here.

The US House of Representatives’ Homeland Security Committee has passed legislation aimed at addressing cybersecurity concerns at the country’s ports. The legislation’s main goals are to improve information sharing and collaboration in facing up to cybersecurity risks at ports in the US. The bill requires the Department of Homeland Security to facilitate increased information sharing about cybersecurity among maritime interests, namely to establish voluntary reporting guidelines for maritime-related cybersecurity risks and incidents. It also requires the Coast Guard to direct each Area Maritime Security Advisory Committee to facilitate the sharing of information about, and development of plans to address, port-specific cybersecurity vulnerabilities. More information is available here.

The new Queensland Government’s Sustainable Fisheries Strategy (2017-2027) will require licensed fishing charter operators to have vessel tracking by 2020, with a priority to install units on net, line and crab commercial fishing vessels by the end of 2018. As a consequence of this measure, commercial fishing vessels in that Australian state will have to be fitted with GPS tracking devices in order to monitor the sustainability of fish stocks. More information is available here.

The Council of the European Union has adopted conclusions on Paris Agreement and is preparing for the upcoming UNFCCC meetings. Among other statements, the EU is calling on the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to “further accelerate its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the maritime sector and to adopt in April 2018 an ambitious initial IMO Strategy on reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from ships including further measures in line with the IMO roadmap and the long term temperature goals of the Paris Agreement”. The COP23 UN Climate conference takes place in Bonn, Germany, on 6-7 November 2017. It will be the moment to develop detailed guidelines for implementation. The EU Council document may be found here.