Healthy ambitions
A very important new chapter in shipping is set to be opened in the next few weeks, with IMO 2020 entering into force. The experts who gathered for the latest Euromed Congress agreed that shipowners should bank on various measures to reduce emissions.
Change in the shipping industry has speeded up even more of late, as the participants and speakers of the XXIII Euromed Congresses in Sicily ascertained. The panel discussions and talks confirmed that the ecological transformation of the sector is the order of the day. The previous focus mainly on safety and security has had to take more of a back seat over the past few years.
What strategy is best for IMO 2020?
Emanuele Grimaldi, managing director of the Grimaldi Group, launched the proceedings with the statement that “shipowners have to do their homework.” He’s right; implementing the regulations for the sulphur content of fuel is looms large today.
The Neapolitan shipping line Grimaldi banks on a mixture of measures to reduce its vessels’ emissions. The proposals on its long list of exemplary measures include scrubbers to filter emissions, battery operation in ports, reconstructing hulls and painting them with silicon. 75 ships in Grimaldi’s fleet of 162 vessels have already been retrofitted.
The newest units, including six G5 ro-ro ships built through to 2020, are already being built with modern technologies. The 17% greater loading capacity and lower emissions compared with the predecessors that we previously had in the fleet are thus available right from the launch. “We’ve been tackling our renewal projects with healthy ambitions,” as Grimaldi elaborated.
Investing to protect the environment
The high level of investment in building and modernisation measures would not appear to have dented the Grimaldi Group’s overall results. “I can look back at this year with a smile,” Grimaldi said, adding that he expects the result to come in just above last year’s figure. The group’s subsidiary Finnlines registered a strong year; ACL, in turn, is expected to return to the black in 2020. Grimaldi underlined the fact that the conglomerate’s 16,000 employees represent the “true engine of our development.”
Esben Poulsen, chairman of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), was amongst those emphasising the fact that the ecological transformation of the shipping industry is the overarching issue of the hour. “We’re talking about the biggest sea change for the sector since the transition from sail to steam-powered vessels.” He expressly underlined the overriding importance of the shortsea shipping segment, which can take over many a lorry load of goods from the road network and thus save tonnes of CO2 emissions.
All of the participants in the event were aware of the fact that the regulations coming into effect in 2020 just represent the beginning. Moderator Alfons Guinier reminded his audience that in 2050 – the year from which maritime shipping is supposed to operate emissions-free – the global fleet is expected to be thrice the size it is today. “We have to intensify and multiply our efforts.”
Market reacts in its own way
The industry has heeded the call, as Ian Adams, director of the Clean Shipping Alliance 2020, elaborated. His alliance has 38 members driving ahead with the development of new technologies, including emission-reducing equipment.
The philosopher’s stone for modern ships, which are expected to operate largely emission-free, has not yet been found, however. Adams said that myths concerning ‘clean power’ remain in circulation. “Deploying scrubbers can’t completely eliminate alkali consumption, and the washing water also has to be treated.”
A lively discussion ensued, addressing alternative fuels, amongst other things. One of the measures advocated called on the EU to run pilot projects with new forms of propulsion, such as ammonia or hydrogen. The new forms of power are not yet able to compete, and the market has also reacted in its own way to measures to protect the environment.
“Diesel fuel with a low sulphur content was available for USD 50 / t just a few years ago,” according to Grimaldi. “In the meantime the price has risen to USD 500 / t.” The best way to meet the new stipulations, he concluded, is to build new vessels that correspond to the standards laid down.
