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The proposed experience-building phase (EBP) - a data-gathering period with the purpose of providing greater transparency and detailed information on the compliance situation after the implementation of the global 0.5 percent cap on fuel sulphur content on January 1, 2020 - gained support from a number of member states during the second day of the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) 73rd Marine Environment Protection Committee meeting (MEPC 73).

Co-sponsored by the Bahamas, Liberia, Marshall Islands, Panama, BIMCO, Intercargo and Intertanko, the EBP concept was submitted to the MEPC in an August 31 document, MEPC 73/5/14, which last week also received the backing of the Trump Administration after the White House declared that it was throwing its support behind the EBP "in order to mitigate the impact of precipitous fuel cost increases on consumers".

During proceedings at IMO headquarters on Tuesday, a number of countries are understood to have spoken in favour of the EBP, including the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Panama and the US.

The issue is set to be debated again on Wednesday, with as many as 20 member states set to speak before a decision is made regarding whether the EBP is passed on to a working group to formulate a plan.

Earlier this month, the EBP co-sponsors moved to clarify any "misconceptions" about their proposal. In a statement, they explained that they were "fully committed" to a January 1, 2020 sulphur cap implementation date, and that the EBP was not seeking to delay the adoption of the MARPOL Annex VI amendments prohibiting carriage of non-compliant fuel oil.

Also, rather than delay or weaken the enforcement provisions of MARPOL Annex VI, the co-sponsors said they are seeking to facilitate "a pragmatic approach" by Administrations in situations where a ship is not able to achieve compliance due to fuel non-availability and fuel quality problems, and that their aim is to provide greater transparency so that appropriate enforcement action in non-compliance situations is carried out in a consistent manner.

Furthermore, the EBP backers explained that a possible review of the regulatory framework of MARPOL Annex VI could not delay the implementation of the sulphur cap after it has already come into effect, and that it would only be possible to ascertain whether any improvements to the regulatory framework were necessary after knowing the actual implementation situation after January 1, 2020.

The co-sponsors conceptualize the EBP as a formalized data collection and analysis measure to closely monitor the implementation of the sulphur cap.

They envisage specific details on the plan for the data gathering and analysis to be developed during the period between MEPC 73 and MEPC 74 - either through expansion of the IMO GISIS database, or another separate reporting platform.

Their proposal does not include a fixed time frame, so that there is sufficient flexibility for it to be either shortened or extended to conclude when the fuel oil availability situation "stabilizes" globally.