The following is text of a news release from the International Maritime Organization (IMO):
(LONDON) — The Panama Canal Authority and A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S are the latest entities to join the IMO-supported Global Industry Alliance to Support Low Carbon Shipping (GIA). The GIA now has 18 members, including leading shipowners and operators, classification societies, engine and technology builders and suppliers, big data providers, oil companies and ports.
The new members signed up to the GIA during the fifth meeting of the GIA Taskforce at IMO headquarters in London, United Kingdom on March 15.
The GIA Taskforce meeting progressed work on several on-going projects, including on the validation of performance of energy efficiency technologies, the assessment of barriers to the uptake of just-in-time operation of ships and resulting emission saving opportunities from its effective implementation, as well as work on the current status and application of alternative fuels in the maritime sector and barriers to their uptake. The task force was also shown a preview of an open access e-learning course on the energy efficient operation of ships, which is expected to be completed and launched later this year.
The task force also formalized the extension of the GIA until Dec. 31, 2019 and agreed to develop a whitepaper outlining a vision and potential priority areas for the GIA.
The GIA is an innovative public-private partnership initiative of the IMO, under the framework of the GEF-UNDP-IMO Global Maritime Energy Efficiency Partnerships (GloMEEP) Project that aims to bring together maritime industry leaders to support an energy efficient and low carbon maritime transport system.]