MISC Annual Report 2017

53 Strategy & Performance SUSTAINABILITY@MISC SUSTAINABILITY TRENDS & CHALLENGES Sustainability Trends and Challenges Summary Our Position Support for Seafarers • ILO estimates, over 1.5 million people around the world are employed as seafarers. • Protecting their welfare continues to be the main priority by shipping operators worldwide in addition to adherence to internationally agreed standards as well as providing necessary training that will enable them to operate ships safely and in a responsible manner. • Several programmes and initiatives have been put in place by Eaglestar to cater for the continuous developmental needs of our seafarers such as : − Senior Officers Leadership Assessment Programme (SOLAP) − Senior Engineers Leadership Assessment Programme (SELAP) • Our commitment to facilitate conducive work environment for our seafarers is aligned to the ILO Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) 2006, which encourages provisions for the minimum standards required for seafarers to work on a ship, including : − Employment terms and conditions − Wages and benefits − Welfare − Social security − Health protection − Medical care Energy and Transport Costs • The heavy reliance of maritime transportation on heavy fuels for propulsion exposes freight rates and transport costs to oil price volatility. • The negative implications of volatile oil and fuel costs will impact the transport costs, affordability of services and trade competitiveness. • Introduction of new regulatory requirements from the International Marine Organisation (IMO) such as the Ballast Water Management System and the 2020 Global Sulphur Cap. • MISC Group has carried out strategic optimisation programmes for our fleet operations while staying competitive, in consideration of cost savings and also our impact on the environment. • We are conscious of the development of alternative fuel option, keeping in mind the efficiency measures and minimising our environmental footprint. • Some of the steps we have undertaken include the use of LNG as a fuel option with the announcement that up to four of our new Aframax tankers will be equipped with LNG dual fuel option. In add i t i on to t he i dent i f i ed mater i al areas as h i ghl i ghted earl i er , t here are also broader susta i nab i l i ty related trends and challenges relevant to t he sh i pp i ng i ndustry t hat could have a d i rect or i nd i rect i mpact on t he i ndustry and must be pa i d attent i on to. The follow i ng i s a summary of t he key h i ghl i ghts of trends and challenges fac i ng t he sh i pp i ng i ndustry and our pos i t i on w i t h respect to t hese.