Norway and Singapore have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on maritime decarbonisation with the International Maritime Organization (IMO), kickstarting plans to cooperate in assisting developing countries with reducing their emissions from ships and in ports.
The IMO is a specialised agency of the United Nations (UN). Established in 1948, it oversees measures to improve the safety and security of international shipping and to prevent pollution from ships. It is also involved in legal matters, including liability and compensation issues, and facilitating international maritime traffic.
Signing the MOU on March 20 were Kitack Lim, Secretary-General of the IMO; Sveinung Oftedal, chief negotiator for green shipping at the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment; and Teo Eng Dih, chief executive of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA).
The three parties signed the MOU on the sidelines of the 14th Intersessional Working Group on the Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships (ISWG-GHG 14), convened at the IMO Headquarters in London.
Participants will work together to exchange experience, knowledge and best practices, and undertake joint resource mobilisation with a view to cooperate and collaborate on actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from ships and the activities of ships in ports, within the frameworks of the NextGEN Connect initiative and the GreenVoyage2050 Project.
The NextGEN Connect initiative was established between the IMO and the MPA in April 2022. The initiative aims to bring industry, academia and global research centres together, to offer inclusive solutions for maritime decarbonisation for trials along shipping routes.
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Meanwhile, the IMO-Norway GreenVoyage2050 Project was established in May 2019 by the IMO, with funding from Norway’s government to support developing countries, including Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs), in their maritime decarbonisation efforts.
MPA’s Teo says: “We are pleased to collaborate with the IMO and the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment to accelerate decarbonisation efforts in the maritime industry. This MOU is an important partnership that brings together our projects with the mutual goal to test solutions along shipping routes. This will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from shipping in an inclusive manner and with the support of like-minded states, aggregate demand along the supply chain.”
Joining forces through this cooperation will strengthen support for decarbonising the maritime sector in developing countries, says Norway’s Oftedal. “We very much look forward to working together with Singapore in these supportive actions, as well as widening the cooperation with the IMO in their leading role to assist decarbonisation of the maritime sector in developing countries.”
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MPA was established in February 1996 to develop Singapore as a premier global hub port and international maritime centre, and to advance and safeguard Singapore’s strategic maritime interests.
MPA takes on the roles of port authority, maritime and port regulator and planner, international maritime centre champion and national maritime representative.
In 2022, Singapore remained one of the world’s busiest transshipment hubs with a container throughput of 37.3 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs).
