Daily Times

World Maritime Day is observed every year in the last week of September. It was created by the United Nations (UN) via the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to acknowledge the contribution of the international maritime industry towards world economy through shipping. The day is observed with the intent to highlight the significance of maritime security, marine environment and shipping safety along with accentuating specific aspects of the IMO’s work. There has always been a need to regulate and monitor the marine environment of the world and several treaties have been adopted throughout the history to improve marine safety. As a result, the UN established the IMO whose purpose is to maintain and develop a wide-ranging regulatory framework for effective shipping around the globe.

Originally the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization (IMCO), the IMO addresses the legal issues, safety, maritime security, environmental affairs and the proficiency of shipping. At first the World Maritime Day was observed in March 1978 to mark the IMO’s convention into force in 1958. Presently it has 167 members and three associate members. The day is celebrated across the world including states like United States, Australia, United Kingdom, Pakistan, Philippines and numerous others. Every year the World Maritime Day has a theme allocated to it. This year the theme is “sustainable shipping for a sustainable planet” which is in sync with UN’s agenda of raising awareness about the importance of sustainable development goals (SDGs). The theme will encourage the key people from various sectors including shipping, to evaluate the steps that are needed to inculcate in the policy framework so as to ensure a sustainable future. It will also enable developed as well as developing states to indoctrinate awareness regarding sustainable shipping with the objective of generating best procedures.

Shipping is vital for the international trade because of its role in the provision of cost-effective means for the transportation of huge volumes of cargo around the world. Seaborne trade is the backbone of the world economy and it has played a crucial role in the progression and development of the world through its integration as a community. The effective use of shipping is important for the economic progress of the developing as well as developed states vis-a-vis the economic growth and contribution of their domestic consumption and production along with the foreign trade. In the prevalent situation, under the onslaught of the Covid-19, the importance of the trade through shipping has been underscored. Even with the whole world under lockdown, the shipping industry has continued to deliver over 80% of the world trade containing food, essential medical supplies and other basic goods integral for Covid-19 recovery and response. That being the case, the World Maritime Day is celebrated to acknowledge the seafarers and the public who rely upon shipping for their well beings.

Currently, the world is experiencing natural disasters and calamities at an increased rate, more than ever. Global warming and its byproduct climate change, is hanging over the world like a veritable Damocles sword. Resultantly the world and its inhabitants have suffered an enormous loss in every sense of the word. The UN is working to tackle the unseen threat imposed by global warming, ergo the agenda for SDGs and the IMO’s theme of sustainable shipping. Sustainable shipping is an all-inclusive concept for the sustainable development, social and environmental responsibility and is applied to the shipping sector. In addition to that it caters to the partnerships, dialogues, collaborations as well as the joint research and design. According to the IMO and the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), the entire merchant fleet of the world is responsible for approximately 3% of the global carbon dioxide emissions. It is equivalent to the annual emissions of a developed country like Germany and the experts have warned that if no action is taken at this point the emission will be around 17% by 2050.

Although, the maritime freight is not as polluting as air or land transport, it still causes the emission of greenhouse gases along with oil and sound pollution. Additionally, for economic reasons, the shipping industry is still using highly polluting fuels like the heavy fuel oil (HFO). HFO is highly dangerous for the marine environment as well as the populations inhabiting the coastal areas because just 15 ships emit Sulphur dioxide equivalent to every car in the world. For that reason, the concept of sustainable shipping is irretrievably tied to the sustainable development of the shipping sector, the world as well as the environment in the long run. Nevertheless, as per the estimates of Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) a complete decarbonization of the shipping sector would be possible by 2035 if following options are adopted:

The utilization of renewable energy by developing wind power or biofuels.

Through technological measures that improve energy efficiency as well as storage.

And through operational measures which include slow steaming or the reduction of the speed of the vessel.

The writer can be contacted at zubeda.anjum@outlook.com