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PRESS NOTICE Nordic Engineer Officer Federation (NMF) was founded 21 February 1919 and represents approx. 30,000 engineer officers in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands. Statement from the secretariat meeting on Iceland 1 and 2 November 2021. Technological and operational changes to reduce vessel emissions will affect both the health and safety of the engine, electrician officers and their crew who will face the biggest safety and competence challenge as high voltage, new type of fuel and energy sources for propulsion and manoeuvring, maintenance, explosion hazards and firefighting. Health and safety must be central to any proposals regarding lowering of emissions from shipping, not an after construction. Therefore, engineers must be directly involved in crafting and enforcing safety standards to ensure that all seafarers have the right competences and opportunities to serve and return home safely - in the future. Safety standards should be part of all IMO regulations and retroactively added to the EEDI, EEXI and other parts of MARPOL Annex VI. The IMO should develop international safety standards for all new systems for manoeuvring and propulsion, engine types and alternative energy sources, including safeguards for storage, handling, and disposal. This means incorporating the human element into revisions to SOLAS, work on the IGF Code standards, and the creation of any new standards necessary to regulate new energy resources. As alternative energy resources and technologies to reduce emissions are introduced, all seafarers will require appropriate training and familiarisation. Proper training is integral to health and safety on board vessels. It is necessary to minimize risks to seafarers and the broader environment and criminalization because the responsibility that vessels are complying with all the regulations of MARPOL. The Nordic Engineer Officer Federation is convinced that the solution to the environmental challenge is a Sustainable Competent and Professional Manning that is able to take care of the environment both inside and outside the ships. NMF’s postadress Nordiska Maskinbefälsfederatione Stórhöfða 25 110 Reykjavík Island Telefon +354 575 9800 E-mail vm@vm.is http://www.nmfnordic.com