On last August 29th, the Maritime Safety Committee of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) approved the amendment of an Annex of the MARPOL Convention (International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution by Ships) in relation to shipping on Antarctic waters, which will be formally implemented from March 2010.

The measure was supported by the Antarctic Treaty System, and it aims to protect the Antarctic ecosystem in view of the growing fuel spills and tourist activities in these waters.

The reform considers the prohibition of the heavy fuel oil use for vessels operating in Antarctic waters (south of 60°S), from July 2011, and most demanding requirements in terms of hull strength and safety of vessels sailing these waters. Only ships involved in safety or search and rescue operations in the area will be exempt from these measures.

The world’s only factory whaling ship, the Nisshin Maru, which belongs to the Japanese whaling fleet and operates in Antarctic waters, could be affected by these tighter new regulations. The ship will have to replace the use of heavy fuel oil by light fuels, which will significantly increase costs and, simultaneously, it will have to stop its annual discharge of thousands tons of waste at sea, including bones, remains of whales, and oil. The insurance group Lloyd's Register, lists this ship in the no ice-strengthening classification, because it doesn’t have the double hull required to sail in waters with icebergs.

These measures represent another obstacle to the controversial “scientific whaling” carried out by Japan, which in addition to withstand strong pressures from conservationist groups, now it would have to face a large increase in costs to satisfy new IMO’s regulations to be able to continue with its whaling program in Antarctic waters.

Note: Although commercial whaling is banned by the International Whaling Commission, there are some exceptions that allow some countries to catch whales, including Japan who carries out a scientific research program whaling in the Southern Ocean and other regions of the globe.


Sources:
The Sydney Morning Herald - Environment
Japan Press Network 47 News