We’re making progress in fight against sea pollution, says PS

Kenya says it is making good progress in meeting its international obligations aimed at mitigating pollution at the Indian Ocean.

State Department for Maritime and Shipping Affairs Principal Secretary (PS) Nancy Karigithu said Kenya, as a member of the International Maritime Organization, (IMO), is doing its part to ensure the greenhouse gas emission from ships is controlled.

“… this issue has taken centre stage in international shipping and we are well aware of that,” she said in Mombasa at the weekend

Mrs Karigithu said Kenya has also ratified the Marpol convention that address issues of marine pollution.

“Marpol annexes six specifically address itself to air pollution and Kenya has ratified it. We have gone further to bring awareness on the obligation that the government has in terms of addressing Marpol and also gone further and become a champion of the same issue in Africa,” she said.

Marpol, the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, is concerned with preventing marine pollution from ships. Specifically, Annex VI of Marpol addresses air pollution from ocean-going ships. It was developed by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in an effort to minimise pollution of the oceans and seas, including dumping, oil and air pollution

The PS said the government is also working on the Maritime Technology Corporation Centre (MTTC) which seeks to address pollution.

She said one of the key objectives of the government is the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from shipping and “some of the pilot projects we are undertaking at MTTC Africa is reducing greenhouse gas emissions from ships when they are in ports,” she said.

Mrs Karigithu said one of the projects is powering the ships using electricity instead of the heavy fuel.

“MTTC brings various stakeholders together. For example, we are working with the meteorological department to measure air quality with the port as part of raising awareness and coming up with the kind of project that will address these issues and show power is going to be our major project in this regard,” the PS said.

“However, the most important thing is that we are carrying the message not only for Kenya but for Africa, building the capacity of our counterparts within Africa to be able to undertake such initiatives.”

When he addressed the 26th International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME 2018) in Mombasa on September, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Secretary General Mukhisa Kituyi told participants to be wary of the rising gas emissions from ships and move fast to address the matter.

He said UNCTAD was focusing more on the increasing issue of sustainability in the maritime transport.

“As part of the UN secretariat dealing with agenda 2030 on sustainability, we are very much aware that port cities are often the most polluted communities in most of the countries of the world. Greenhouse gas emissions of ships continue to be an important challenge to climate mitigation,” Mr Kituyi said.

“How to create sustainable port communities, how to improve the climate efficiencies particularly containing the emissions from ships is an important concern to UNCTAD.”

MTTC Africa in its website has warned that Greenhouse gas emissions from maritime shipping industry are expected to increase globally.

Developing countries, which play a significant role in international shipping, often lack the means to improve energy efficiency in their shipping sectors.

“The European Commission has recently signed an agreement with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to provide assistance to developing countries for reducing GHG and other emissions in their maritime shipping industry and promote energy efficiency within this sector,” said a statement from the MTTC website.

This four-year project, entitled Capacity Building for Climate Change Mitigation in the Maritime Shipping Industry will enable developing countries, especially Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States, in five target regions —Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America and the Pacific— to effectively implement energy-efficiency and emissions reduction measures through technical assistance and capacity building.