Shanghai Maritime University has launched a new regional centre on Monday that will provide leadership in promoting ship energy efficiency and technologies and operations, and the reduction of harmful emissions from ships.

The centre will cater to the needs of the Asia region under the Global Maritime Technology Cooperation Centre (MTCC) Network (GMN) – a project funded by the European Union (EU) and run by IMO.

The MTCC-Asia centre was officially opened by IMO secretary-general Lim Ki-tack and China’s ministry of transport vice-minister He Jianzhong, Shanghai Municipal government vice mayor Chen Yin.

Lim said the new MTCCs in the GMN network would form part of IMO’s two-pronged approach to addressing greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping.

“I see our regulatory work and our capacity-building initiatives as a double-headed assault on the problem of shipping emissions. Together, they send a clear signal about how seriously this organization treats this issue, how determined it is to address it, and how prepared we are to roll up our sleeves and take practical measures to do so,” Lim said.

EU representative at the launch Vicky Pollard, first counsellor-environment and climate change, delegation of the EU to China and Mongolia, said that tackling climate change and implementing Paris agreement commitments were a top priority for EU-China cooperation.

“We are delighted to be supporting the IMO to set up this new Maritime Technology Cooperation Centre in Shanghai, so that together we can support least developed countries in the region to limit greenhouse gas emissions from their maritime shipping sector, and to reap the wider benefits this will bring in terms of reduced costs, jobs and sustainable development,” she said.

The Asian MTCC will have two offices in Shanghai. The MTCC-Asia forms a network with centres in Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Pacific.

Source:seatrade-maritime.com