The IMO’s Sub-Committee on Pollution Prevention and Response has agreed on the draft 2025 Action Plan to Address Marine Plastic Litter from Ships, aiming for approval by the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 83) when it meets on 7 to 11 April 2025.
Plastic litter from ships can come from a variety of sources with the greatest amount coming from fishing fleets, according to one study. Fishing gear, made of plastic, often gets left behind in the ocean. But other sources of plastic include food packing, carrying plastic pellets, and anti-fouling coatings used by merchant ships that result in microplastics.
The 2025 Action Plan to Address Marine Plastic Litter from Ships was prepared following a revision of the initial Action Plan approved in 2018, taking into account actions that had been completed since then.
The actions included in the draft 2025 Action Plan are set for completion by 2030 and aim to achieve at the following main outcomes:
- Reduction of the contribution from fishing vessels to marine plastic litter
- Reduction of shipping’s contribution to marine plastic litter
- Enhanced public awareness, education and seafarer training
- Improvement of the effectiveness of port reception facilities and treatment in reducing marine plastic litter
- Improved understanding of the contribution of ships to marine plastic litter
- Strengthened international cooperation
The IMO Sub-Committee updated the timeframes for the expected completion of the actions, grouping them according to short-, mid-, long-term and continuous actions.
Carriage of plastic pellets by sea
The draft 2025 Action Plan to Address Marine Plastic Litter from Ships includes a dedicated action for the development of mandatory measures to reduce the environmental risks of plastic pellets transported by sea in freight containers.
To inform future discussions on the legal framework for introducing such measures, the Sub-Committee developed a table outlining various considerations, including advantages, limitations and impacts relating to possible amendments to mandatory instruments linked to the carriage of plastic pellets by sea.
PPR 12 outcomes
Other important outcomes from the Sub-Committee meeting include:
- draft Guidance on in-water cleaning of ships’ biofouling agreed;
- draft 2025 Guidelines on selective catalytic reduction systems approved; and
- draft Interim guidance on the carriage of blends of biofuels and MARPOL Annex I cargoes by conventional bunker ships agreed.
