By the OGJ Online Staff
HOUSTON, Oct. 3 -- The International Association of Independent Tanker Owners (Intertanko) and other maritime organizations have urged the International Maritime Organization to give it more flexibility to meet a proposed phaseout of tin-based antifouling systems.
At a meeting in London this week, IMO is considering adoption of the International Convention on the Control of Harmful Anti-fouling Systems. Under it, member nations would require their ships to rapidly phase out the use of organotins, including tributyltin (TBT).
The proposal would ban all organotin-based antifouling systems by January 2003 and require ship owners to remove the presence of organotins in antifouling coatings by January 2008.
Intertanko and other shipping groups have urged the IMO not to require them to sand blast hulls by 2008 to remove all traces of TBT.
It argued that ship operators should have the option of either sand blasting or using a sealer coating to cover the tin-based paint.
The World Wildlife Fund said, "For many decades, organotins have been used in anti-fouling paints on ships. Their detrimental effects on the environment were first noticed in oyster farms on the Atlantic coast of France in the late 1970s.
"Since then, increased levels of organotins have been found worldwide in marine organisms further up the food chain, such as fish, seabirds, and marine mammals. These chemicals have been shown to have hormone-disrupting properties in some species, and humans could also face health risks if they consume contaminated fish."
WWF said the paint industry has developed TBT-free alternatives. It noted that Japan, New Zealand, and some other nations have banned paints containing organotins.
