---

Tanker owners' association INTERTANKO has confirmed that its Council has approved the appointment of current deputy managing director, Katharina Stanzel, as managing director, effective July 1, 2012.

Stanzel replaces Joe Angelo, who will return to his previous position of deputy managing director and director for regulatory affairs and the Americas.

Commenting on the news, INTERTANKO chairman, Captain Graham Westgarth, said: “We are delighted that Kathi has been confirmed as INTERTANKO’s next managing director. Kathi’s vision, and dedication and commitment to INTERTANKO and its members will be invaluable as she takes over the leadership of our first class international shipping association.

"We are also extremely pleased to have Joe continue with INTERTANKO as part of the leadership team. Joe agreed to take on the duties and responsibilities of managing director as part of our long term succession plan and he has served us well in that capacity,” he said.

INTERTANKO is also finalising a five year strategic plan, whose main objectives are to look ahead and ensure that, given the realities of today’s regulatory and economic climate, the association is well-positioned to face the challenges expected.

The Council believes that the most likely scenario the tanker industry will face in the coming five years will be one of strong environmental concern within an unstable geopolitical state and that the major issues confronting its members during this period would be:

1. Sustainability of the tanker industry.

2. Human element.

3. Tanker safety and performance.

4. Global maritime security threats.

5. Greenhouse gas emission reductions.

6. Air emission reductions.

7. Ballast water management.

The Council agreed that the aim of INTERTANKO must be to engage proactively at every level, working with all stakeholders, including regulators, to ensure that the interests of its members are taken into account and that operational realities are considered, leading to regulation that is workable and practical.

Council members said there should also be a focus on developing industry co-operation, and on achieving a cohesive and proactive approach in getting governments to understand the consequences of their decisions, thereby influencing the outcomes of the political decision-making process.

INTERTANKO said that it remained deeply concerned about the current tanker market and that members have been struggling to cover their operating costs at prevalent market rates. It firmly believed that this situation cannot be maintained long term, as it threatens the sustainability of oil tanker operations.

To assist members, INTERTANKO has developed an optimal speed model. This shows the relationship between the TCE earnings and CO2 emissions, based on a known freight rate for a specific route and different tanker speeds.

Its objective is to provide members with a tool that will allow them to achieve an optimal speed for their ships and voyages, to the benefit of the tanker operator and the environment, since reduced speed means reduced CO2 emissions.

The Council also reaffirmed that it wishes to continue to promote a global switch to cleaner fuels. Compliance with ECAs by use of cleaner fuels may be attractive when compared with the significant cost of fully equipping a ship with two or three scrubbers.

INTERTANKO has developed ECA Guidelines based on a number of specific technical, operational, safety and cost-efficiency elements, which need to be considered by shipowners when choosing between alternatives for compliance with the ECA regulatory regime between 1st January 2015 and the enforcement of a global sulphur cap in 2020, or 2025.

These Guidelines are not intended to promote one means of compliance over another, the Association stressed. They are intended to facilitate shipowners’ decisions on how to comply with the ECA regulatory regime and to provide advice on the foreseeable impacts of each of the alternatives to meet ECA emission limits.

INTERTANKO said that it will continue its campaign to promote the need of professional standards on quality control of bunkers delivered, seeking the co-operation of other shipowner associations and of the bunker suppliers. At the same time, it will increase its bunker quality reports to members.

The Council said that it found it completely unacceptable that some EU ports, having no quality control requirements on bunkers delivered, consider off-spec bunkers on board ships as ‘waste’ and require costly de-bunkering to follow the EU Waste Directive.