Shipowners and environmentalists are worried about possible delays in the IMO’s greenhouse gas timeline, with the schedule of regulatory talks disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.

If short-term decarbonisation measures are to come into force by 2023 as planned, member states of the United Nations body have to finalise the rules this year.

But the IMO has postponed all face-to-face meetings at its London headquarters since early March, with many member states under lockdown.