IMO and MPA to collaborate on route-based action plans

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) have launched a new programme, NextGEN, to develop decarbonisation initiatives along specific routes across the Asia-Pacific region.

GEN stands for ‘green and efficient navigation’ and the NextGEN database was launched last September. It already lists more than 150 decarbonisation projects with more than 500 parties involved around the world. They include IMO member states, shipowners, technology developers, classification societies and non-governmental organisations.

Speaking recently as the new initiative was announced at the decarbonisation session of the IMO-Singapore Future of Shipping Conference during Singapore Maritime Week 2022 , the UN agency’s secretary general, Kitack Lim, said: “The transition to a decarbonised maritime sector cuts across all aspects of shipping – from the supply and use of fuels to safety matters, port operations and training of seafarers … Collaboration, information sharing, and capacity-building are key to ensuring no one is left behind in the push for the decarbonisation of the shipping sector.”