Quijano made the announcement during a signing ceremony inducting the waterway into the GIA at the Panama Maritime World Conference and Exhibition, where IMO secretary-general Kitack Lim was in attendance.

IMO sec-gen Lim was in Panama to inaugurate the conference-exhibition known as Panama Maritime XIV. Lim in his address insisted that the [IMO2020] target “will not be met using fossil fuels. It needs technical co-operation and capacity of [its] members.”

“Support to the important initiative 2020 is all about beneficial effort for the environment and health of all countries and wellbeing of the planet,” he added. “Deadline is fast approaching.”

The Panama Canal will become the first Latin American organisation to join the GIA.

“Given our roots in sustainability and innovation, this partnership [with the GIA] reaffirms the Canal’s commitment to leading our industry to a cleaner and more efficient future,” said Quijano.

Sign up now to hear more from Panama Canal administrator Jorge Quijano at the Sea Asia 2019 Conference in Singapore

The GIA now has 18 members, including leading shipowners and operators, classification societies, engine and technology builders and suppliers, big data providers, oil companies and ports. The Panama Canal Authority and AP Moller – Maersk are the latest entities to join the IMO-supported organisation.

The new members signed up to the GIA during the fifth meeting of the GIA Taskforce on March 15 at IMO Headquarters in London, UK.

The Taskforce also formalised the extension of the GIA until 31 December 2019 and agreed to develop a White Paper outlining a vision and potential priority areas for the GIA.

The GIA is an innovative public-private partnership initiative of the IMO, under the framework of the GEF-UNDP-IMO Global Maritime Energy Efficiency Partnerships (GloMEEP) Project that aims to bring together maritime industry leaders to support an energy efficient and low carbon maritime transport system.

Source: Seatrade Maritime News