Considerations on COM(2024)453 - - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2024)453 - . |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2024)453 |
| date | October 14, 2024 |
(2) The IMO is a specialised agency of the United Nations with responsibility for the safety and security of shipping and the prevention of marine and atmospheric pollution by ships. All Union Member States are members of the IMO. The Union is not a member of the IMO.
(3) Pursuant to Article 28(b) of the Convention on the IMO, the Maritime Safety Committee provides machinery for the performance of any duties assigned to it in accordance with that Convention, by the IMO Assembly or by the IMO Council, or any duty within the scope of that Article which may be assigned to the Maritime Safety Committee under any other international instrument and accepted by the IMO.
(4) The IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee, in its 109th session from 2 to 6 December 2024, is to adopt amendments to the International Code of Safety for Ships Using Gases or other Low-flashpoint Fuels (IGF Code). The amendments include a variety of issues, including pump suction wells, safety relief valve discharge, fuel preparation rooms, structural fire protection and hazardous zones.
(5) It is appropriate to establish the position to be taken on the Union’s behalf during the 109th session of the IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee, as the envisioned acts are capable of decisively influencing the contents of Union law, namely Directive 2009/45/EC on safety rules and standards for passenger ships3.
(6) The Union should support the amendments to the International Code of Safety for Ships Using Gases or other Low-flashpoint Fuels (IGF Code) because they will enhance the safety of ships, including passenger ships, using natural gas as fuel. These amendments provide an equivalent level of protection of the piping system and tank inlet from the relief valve discharge lines during normal operation and emergency. In addition, the existence of small wells of LNG fuel tanks should be acknowledged within the IGF Code. The adoption of these amendments will promote the use of renewable and low carbon fuels and in particular Gases and other low flash point fuels such as low and zero-carbon Methanol, Hydrogen and Ammonia. This is in line with the decarbonisation and depollution objectives of the EU Fit for 55 legislative package.
(7) The Union's position is to be expressed by the Member States of the Union that are members of the IMO, and by the Commission, acting jointly.