IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez addressed the closing of the 82nd session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 82), according to IMO's release.
He noted that in parallel with the ongoing work to develop medium-term measures to implement the IMO Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Strategy, delegates had also made significant progress on short-term measures, with key elements for improvement identified.
Progress had also been made on the following issues:
-an amendment to MARPOL Annex VI was adopted to designate the Canadian Arctic and the Norwegian Sea as Emission Control Areas for nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides and particulate matter;
-an Action Plan to reduce underwater noise from merchant shipping and associated guidance for the experience-gathering phase was endorsed; -interim guidelines for the implementation of the Hong Kong and Basel Conventions with respect to transboundary movements of ships destined for recycling were endorsed;
-progress was made in work to reduce the environmental risks associated with the maritime transport of plastic pellets;
-Nusa Penida and Gili Matra islands in the Lombok Strait have been designated as a new Particularly Sensitive Marine Area