At its Marine Environment Protection Committee meeting held from 13 to 17 May, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) rejected a proposal submitted by ICOMIA and the Turkish IMO Delegation that sought to mitigate the impact caused by the Tier III regulation. This proposal was covered by SuperyachtNews.com earlier this week here.

Despite ICOMIA’s significant efforts in producing the proposal, and support from eleven delegations, the proposal was rejected. This means that the Tier III regulation will be implemented from 2021 for vessels below 500gt and above 24m. No further opportunities exist to object to the rule, so it is important that all vessels designed to operate globally comply with the requirements from 2021 onwards.

“ICOMIA fought hard to advocate for the industry,” comments Udo Kleinitz, secretary general of ICOMIA. “Having been involved with this file for the last 11 years, at this stage it is difficult to capture the impact this decision will have on vessel design, let alone our industry. We are most grateful to those IMO Member States who supported our proposal, and would like to mention in particular Turkey for co-sponsoring this document and the associated lobbying efforts, as well as Malta for [its] efforts on the European stage.

“I also would like to thank the yards who supported our advocacy effort, namely Ferretti Group, Overmarine, Monte Carlo Yachts, Princess Yachts, Sanlorenzo Yachts, Sunseeker and Viking Yachts. This proposal deserved to succeed on technical grounds, but unfortunately, we lacked the political support from IMO Member States who decided against continuing a case they accepted six years ago.”

Vessels above 500gt, constructed on or after 1 January 2016, must already comply with Tier III's NOx emission limits. Vessels below 500gt and above 24m have been exempt under a delay provision until 2021. After 2021, if operating in designated Emission Control Areas, yachts over 24m must be built to comply with an emission limit that can currently only be met by the use of exhaust gas after-treatment systems. According to ICOMIA, the currently available designs require a minimum of 30 per cent additional space of the engine installation envelope. ICOMIA’s proposal to delay the application of the rule and relax the standards would have lessened the negative impact of Tier III on the superyacht industry.

Profile links

Icomia

Click here to become part of The Superyacht Group community, and join us in our mission to make this industry accessible to all, and prosperous for the long-term. We are offering access to the superyacht industry’s most comprehensive and longstanding archive of business-critical information, as well as a comprehensive, real-time superyacht fleet database, for just £10 per month, because we are One Industry with One Mission. Sign up here.