Participating countries and project stakeholders attend the Inception workshop
Representatives from the 12 Lead Partnering Countries and four regional coordinating organizations met at IMO headquarters in London from 18 to 20 March 2019, to kick-start the five-year global project. The Global Project Task Force is the governing body of the GloFouling Partnerships and will convey every two years to review progress and approve the project work plan.
“This milestone event marks the real start of this exciting project, the first-ever globally coordinated effort to address biofouling - not just from shipping, but from all marine sectors,” said Jose Matheickal, representing IMO’s Marine Environment Division.
This milestone event marks the real start of this exciting project, the first-ever globally coordinated effort to address biofouling.
The London meeting heard status reports from the lead partnering countries, regional coordinating organizations and strategic partners. Discussions centred on shipping and also on other marine sectors such as ocean-based renewable energies, aquaculture, offshore structures and recreational activities, including sailing.
Participants exchanged views on some of the latest initiatives at the regional and global level related to biofouling and invasive aquatic species, notably World Sailing’s Sustainability Agenda, the work of the EU’s COMPLETE Project, BIMCO’s plan for an in-water cleaning standard and BioFREE, a collaboration between Heriot-Watt University and the European Marine Energy Centre at the Orkney Islands testbed.
The work plan for the project was discussed in detail, with special attention paid to the schedule of activities, the development of a communication strategy to promote awareness of the issue of invasive aquatics species and the best strategy for securing participation from the private sector - to help overcome some of the barriers that have been identified to the adoption of new technologies.