MEPC delay refocuses Tankers 2030 panel brief

Riviera has recast the Tankers 2030 panel following the adjournment of MEPC 83’s extraordinary session in October.

The revised discussion on 19 November 2025, IMO MEPC 83: What next?, addresses how the delay reframed industry thinking on carbon and shipping, the likely effects on tanker operations and trade, the weight of regional regulation during the pause, how the framework could still progress despite the adjournment, and what the sector should anticipate heading into MEPC 84.

The confirmed line-up comprised ABS manager, global sustainability Ilias Soultanias; Braemar global head of decarbonisation and fuel transition Joey Ng; DNV senior vice president and global segment director for tankers Catrine Vestereng; IPTA general manager Mike Beviss; and MOL (Asia Oceania) general manager – carbon solutions (A) Capt Ashutosh Kumar.

The adjournment stemmed from the need to complete guideline work, including financial architecture, rather than a reversal of direction.

That interpretation shapes the panel’s new brief: tanker stakeholders should plan on the basis that the overall trajectory persisted while the detail matured.

Commercial contributions to the briefing emphasised that regional measures would continue to shape exposure during the interval, and that includes ongoing obligations linked to regimes in the UK, Turkey, parts of Africa and the EU.

The delay following MEPC 83 also highlights immature credit markets for low-carbon fuels, uneven operating experience with biofuel pathways and upward pressure on biofuel costs.

These elements, taken together, reinforced the message that owners and charterers needed to price compliance, not pause it.

The delay at MEPC 83 does not impact other regulations, and the panel will discuss short-term compliance levers within EU regimes.

Flexibility mechanisms under FuelEU Maritime – including pooling, banking and borrowing – were presented as tools that could reduce aggregate exposure when applied across mixed fleets.

This includes the documentation and data-management demands for operators whose trade lanes created EU touchpoints, including voyages by non-EU operators that triggered regulatory obligations through port calls.

The purpose of this panel is to give tanker market participants a clear reading of the adjournment’s operational implications and to set expectations for the period leading to MEPC 84, and the working assumption is that owners could not defer choices until a final vote and that disciplined preparation – technical, commercial and administrative – would be required while guideline work continued.