Dear INTERCARGO Members
First of all I would like to wish you, your families and all seafarers and staff at your companies a happy new year, full of health, joy, prosperity and smooth sailing.
2020 will be a year full of challenges and indeed this will continue throughout the decade.
The implementation of the IMO 2020 Global Sulphur Cap is already showing multiple challenges with the new year in only its second week! The fundamental dislocation where IMO regulates ships and shipowners, but not charterers, bunker suppliers and oil refiners is causing huge difficulties.
INTERCARGO will continue to maintain a dialogue with IMO to try and ensure as smooth a transition as possible. In order to do this, we need as much detailed feedback from you, our Members on all 2020 fuel issues.
2020 is also a pivotal year for the greenhouse gas (GHG) discussions at IMO and our organisation will keep striving for practical solutions which take the influence of the other stakeholders also into account.
On pure dry cargo issues, we are committed to progressing the INTERCARGO’s work program. Kostas Gkonis, our Secretary General, has advised you of this in his recent monthly update e-mail. Together with the other Secretariat members, Ed Wroe, Joe Zhou, Paul Markides and Tonya Dendrinou, they will strive to push forward the work program whilst listening to you and trying to assist in day to day problems.
2020 sees INTERCARGO starting the year in its new offices and we welcome Members who wish to visit our new premises.
We would be grateful if our Members could provide us with suitable high quality photographs of their vessels or dry cargo operations for our new offices. We would also be grateful for any suitable ship models!
Our semi-annual meetings this year will take place in Singapore and London and we look forward to seeing our Members there. In addition, we welcome you at any time at our London lunchtime seminars and other opportunities around the world.
Finally, INTERCARGO is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2020 and we intend to schedule events and distribute a copy of the wonderful publication ” INTERCARGO – The First 40 Years” by Naftika Chronika to all of you.
The Secretariat and I look forward to seeing you during this exciting year.
With kind regards and pleasant voyages.
Dimitrios J. Fafalios
Chairman
