IMO: guidance on removal of anti-fouling coatings from ships

The International Maritime Organization on 1 December released LC-LP.1/Circ.108, the Revised guidance on best management practices for removal of anti-fouling coatings from ships, as well as LC-LP.1/Circ.107, Joint Work Programme.

The governing bodies of the London Convention and Protocol, at their joint session in October 2023, approved the Revised guidance on best management practices for the removal of anti-fouling coating from ships, as set out in the annex (see the document below), and agreed to issue this Revised Guidance as an LC/LP circular.

The Revised Guidance has been updated following the amendments to the AFS Convention to introduce controls on cybutryne, which were adopted by MEPC at its seventy-sixth session in June 2021 and entered into force on 1 January 2023.

The Guidance attached in the annex (in the document below) replaces the 2014 Guidance on best management practices for removal of anti-fouling coatings from ships, including TBT hull paints, contained in LC-LP.1/Circ.38/Rev.1.

Contracting Parties are invited to bring this circular to the attention of all concerned.

For more information, please see the documents below (available only to subscribers):