The 2016 GREEN4SEA Conference & Awards , a PRO BONO event, concluded on Wednesday 6th of April 2016 in Eugenides Foundation Athens attracting 950 delegates from 20 countries representing a total of 400 organizations. Six panels of 25 global experts focused on green shipping issues and latest developments regarding the Ballast Water Management, Energy Efficiency, MRV Regulation for the shipping emissions and also discussed about the current fuel challenges to meet future requirements and the benefits of using gas as a fuel.
The
The event supported by the Association of Passenger Shipping Companies, Chios Marine Club, ECOMASYN, EENMA, EΛΙΝΤ, Hellenic Shipbrokers Association, HEMEXPO, Piraeus Marine Club, University of the Aegean, WIMA, WISTA Hellas and Yacht Club of Greece.
The inaugural presentation of the GREEN4SEA Awards took place at the closing of the forum within the scope of awarding industry’s green outstanding practices for Initiative, Excellence and Technology. The winners of the 2016 GREEN4SEA Awards are:
- Capital Shipmanagement Corp received the GREEN4SEA Excellence Award for demonstrating environmental excellence and performance above average. Capital Ship Management distinguished for her strategy with a focus on environmental performance. The company has also launched a joint project with LR and DSME to examine LNG as a fuel and its use on an ultra-large containership design. Other short-listed nominees for this category were: Antipollution, Blue Water, Marstal Navigationsskole and Panos Zachariadis.
- Green Award Foundation received the GREEN4SEA Initiative Award for its contribution in initiatives fostering environmental sustainability for the shipping industry. In specific, Green Award Foundation provided incentives to attract quality and green ships by its Green Award Scheme which certifies ship managers and vessels that go beyond the international conventions and legislation in terms of ship lay-out and equipment, quality of operations and management. Other short-listed nominees for this category were: Blue World, International Windship Association, Poseidon Med and Society for Gas as a Marine Fuel.
- ERMA First ESK Engineering received the GREEN4SEA Technology Award for providing significant technological achievement in the industry. ERMA FIRST has offered a new generation ballast water treatment system, the ‘ERMA FIRST FIT’ which uses a 40 microns automatic backwashing screen filter with a significant small footprint and modular design. Other short-listed nominees for this category were: Arista & DeltaMarin, Clean Marine, Hullvane and Thordon Bearings
During
Presentations
Panel No. 1 – Green Shipping Perspectives
- Apostolos Belokas , Founder & Managing Editor GREEN4SEA opened the conference presenting an ‘’Overview of Environmental Challenges’’ focusing on the uncertainties surrounding the implementation of future legislation on Ballast Water Management, Energy Efficiency, Air Emissions and EU MRV, and current and future fuel options. Given the current state of the market and the future uncertainties he urged the delegated to increase awareness and prepare for the forthcoming developments.
- Jan Fransen, Green Award Foundation focused on efforts ‘’Towards Sustainable Shipping’. He noted that climate change is a major concern today, however proper international maritime regulations are developing slowly in order to make shipping safer and cleaner. Therefore, taking responsibility and strong stakeholder collaboration will speed up towards sustainable shipping. Shipping companies are motivated to be proactive by marine service providers and ports that will provide incentives to these shipping companies. He recommended a Joint Maritime Corporate Social Responsibility with Green Award as a platform.
- J. (Rob) Witte, DGMR advised how to reduce ‘’Noise in Ports’’. He explained that moored seagoing vessels produce sound that can be perceived as annoying by residents living near harbours. The number of complaints in the Rotterdam Port Area is on average 250/year on this subject. The noise stems from the auxiliary engines, reefers on the decks, etc. Because of the growing awareness on this subject and the difficulties to tackle this problem it is suggested to start an international project to determine the various aspects of noise from moored ships. He said that the aim of the project is to provide more knowledge on noise sources, the effects of it, ways to reduce ship noise and propose a system to be able to judge a ship on the production of noise when moored.
- Panagiotis G. Zacharioudakis, Europa Venture gave a presentation on ‘’Shortsea Fleet Renewal : The Green Compliance & Financing perspective’’ . He stated that the shipping industry is currently facing a toxic cocktail; the ever increasing need for significant investments on infrastructure and at the same time a constantly dropping route of the prices in the shipping markets. Therefore, Europa Venture (EV) has been established to act as a multi-financing platform for the green compliance with the EC and IMO regulations. One of the primary roles of EV is to focus on the renewal of Short Sea Fleet of South Europe through a highly innovative project, the so called “EUROPA SHIP” Plan (ESP), developed based on an initiative of the Hellenic Short Sea Ship-owners Association.
Panel No.2 – Ballast Water Management
- Alec Kyrle-Pope, Thomas Miller (Hellas) referred to the ‘’Ballast Water Management Convention – The P&I dimension’’. He provided an overview of recent developments, both IMO and US and an analysis of current regulatory gaps. He discussed the possible scope for third party liabilities and coverage issues to arise. The aim of his presentation was to update industry participants and raise awareness of practical and compliance issues for the coming year and likely ratification of the convention within 2016.
- Leif Eric Caspersen, ERMA FIRST gave a presentation on the ‘’BWMC ratification & USCG Type Approval’’. He noted that several makers have already started testing for the USCG Type Approval and got aborted as changes needed to be made to their systems. He said the most common changes are finer filtration, higher oxidant levels for systems using electrolysis and more exposure of UV radiation to the species. The last two, though, will increase the total power consumption. The basic discharge standard is the same for IMO and USCG, but, there are differences in other sectors, such as, in the tests procedures, both for the land tests and the shipboard tests. Also, USCG has a separate test for brackish and fresh water species. The tests require lower salinities than IMO as well as tests in fresh water.
- Katie Weaver, Ecochlor described the process ‘’Towards USCG Type Approval’’ by using her company’s example. She said that Ecoclor’s BWTS uses a two-step process to treat ballast water – filtration followed by disinfection with the well-known biocide, chlorine dioxide. The system’s effectiveness is not impaired by variations in salinity, temperature, turbidity, organics, and vibration, which can impact other treatment options. In March, Ecochlor BWTS completed testing for USCG Type Approval. After review by the independent lab, a Letter of Recommendation will be sent to the USCG and the Ecochlor team will prepare and submit a USCG Type Approval application.
- Paul Jinhwa Kim, PANASIA provided an analysis of their ‘’study for higher disinfection efficacy of Ultra Violet technology’’. He explained that PANASIA’s research on higher disinfection efficacy of Ultra Violet unit resulted in the development of MEGA UV unit, the world’s largest UV sterilizing unit made by PANASIA’s in-house technology.
- Craig Patrick, Wartsila Environmental services gave a presentation on ‘’Ballast Retrofit: the Engineering Challenge’’. With the market maturing quickly, operational support and operational costs will quickly become a key element of the ballast technology market. He explained how we may ensure certainty over the BWMS Operational Costs. He said that by utilising well proven models including condition monitoring, remote monitoring and performance based support we may acquire the most effective end to end product for the future of the BWMS market.
Panel No.3 : Energy Efficiency
- Zois Dagkaris, EURONAV Ship Management (Hellas) presented ‘’Energy Efficiency Initiatives’’. He stated that fuel efficiency is important to save cost, improve company’s position on the charter market and benefit the environment. Regulation and bunker prices have been always key drivers for energy efficiency. The ship managers have to take decisions on energy and air emission management strategy considering the charter market/operation profile, bunker prices, regulations and new technologies/services. All of these parameters are very unstable and change constantly. Key success factors supporting best decision are testing of pilot measures, transparency/monitoring needed, commitment/capabilities of staff, crew and top management commitment.
- Serafeim Katsikas, LAROS explained “The key role of Information Intelligence towards Greener Vessels Operation’’. He referred to the Green Vessel Operation which is a concept that includes the implementation of more environmental friendly technologies and the optimization of the vessel efficiency, maintenance and operation. He said the big challenge for the management of a Maritime Company is the transition to the modern ship management in the most optimum way, exploiting the new technologies and advised the implementation of Data Driven Decision Management is a key to succeed it.
- Konstantinos Kanellakis, Schneider Electric gave a presentation on ‘’Smart panels and energy audits: Optimize the electrical consumption of a vessel’’ in which he covered the energy savings potential for a vessel’s electrical consumption. He referred to the technological tools available today to monitor, analyse data and create reports to help with decision-making on energy efficiency actions. He highlighted how important is to monitor in real time the vessel’s operation to avoid issues which may be critical for the electrical installation and key applications and conclude his presentation by stating the most usual applications on board the vessels, which offer high potential for energy efficiency with a fast return on investment.
- Dimitrios V. Lyridis, NTUA analysed the issue of ‘’Ships and Ports Electrification’’. He said that both EU and IMO policy in maritime transportation aim at more efficient use of resources, i.e. the development and/or exploitation of energy sources in a way that the environmental impact is minimized or completely eliminated. This is especially important in ports where, for various reasons, emissions (not only greenhouse gases) are more harmful and which, due to the globalization and the evolution of international trade, have become key drivers of the economic development of several countries. But it is also true for vessel routes of very small distances. He explained that the electrification of ports and such vessels answers this problem by encouraging and supporting the investment in science and technology in smart grids and in cold ironing technologies and in electric or hybrid propulsion.
Panel No.4 : Emissions MRV
- Julien Dufour, Verifavia Shipping provided an update on ‘’EU Shipping MRV Regulation’’. He reminded that MRV Regulation 2015/757 came into force on 1st July 2015 and shipping companies operating in the EU have until 2017 to prepare plans to monitor and report their carbon emissions. From 2018 onwards, ships over 5,000 gross tonnage calling at EU ports must collect and submit verified annual data on CO2 emissions. They will also be required to carry a Document of Compliance issued by an accredited MRV verifier.
- Anastasia Kouvertari, Hellenic Lloyd’s S.A. referred to ‘’LR- Understanding MRV’’ which is a short practical guide to implementing Monitoring, Reporting and Verification. She addressed the main axes of the EU Regulation as well as the areas that remain to be clarified. She discussed both the monitoring and the verification aspect within a pragmatic and practical context that builds upon existing understanding of the shipping industry in the lowest administrative way possible. She said that standard practices on fuel consumption monitoring and alignment with systems like ISO 50001, ISM and SEEMP are key to compliance, overlooking potential future challenges stemming from a global ship GHG data collection scheme.
- Stamatis Fradelos, ABS gave a presentation on ‘’EU MRV Future Challenges’’. He said that there are various factors that can lead to inaccuracies in fuel measurement and subsequently in emissions reporting inconsistency. Therefore, ship operators would need to undertake due diligence to ensure the highest achievable accuracy and transparency. He advised they would need to take responsibility for the quality assurance of the measurement equipment, the consistency of the measurement methods and the competence of the involved personnel, while ensuring the data are collected, compiled, calculated and stored (data flow) in a transparent way.
- Panos Zachariadis, Atlantic Bulk Carriers Management analysed ‘’The ship manager perspective towards EU MRV and future MBMs’’ . He stated that MRV will be another cumbersome, bureaucratic, time consuming and costly regulation for operators, crews and administrations, with very dubious results. He also said that in reality it is unnecessary as most of its intended collection of information (e.g. fuel consumption of various ship types) is already known from prior studies such as the IMO GHG studies, while its other objective, indexing the efficiency of ships using operational indices, is an exercise in futility. Such indices (of the EEOI form and its hybrids) show no convergence, and are irrelevant in identifying individual ship’s operational efficiencies. He suggested that CO2 reduction goals could be easily and simply achieved by a universal bunker tax.
- Sotiris Raptis, Transport & Environment presented the ‘’EU & IMO post-MRV developments’’ . He said that despite having escaped an explicit reference, the Paris Agreement creates a whole new political environment for shipping. All countries are now legally bound by an ambitious long-term goal to pursue efforts to limit a temperature increase well below 2°C. The scale of the discrepancy between targets commensurate with global climate change objectives and the industry’s projected emissions scenarios is so large, that shipping urgently requires a CO2 target. This objective needs to be pursued through the appropriate regulatory bodies, the IMO and the EU. The ETS with a Maritime Climate Fund as a parallel mechanism established under the ETS Directive would cover all EU-related emissions which are monitored and reported under the existing EU MRV system
Panel No.5 : Current fuel challenges to meet future requirements
- Marco Dierico, DuPont analysed how to ensure ‘’Full operational flexibility with the most affordable fuel oil’’. He said that the path to a drastic reduction of SOx emissions from ships is set with a target of a global limit to be implemented within 2025, but with challenging intermediate steps. The benefits of installing an exhaust gas cleaning system can be summarized as follow: Operators can burn the most affordable fuel available in the market; Great fuel cost savings up to 3 M$ per year; No operational limits in ECA; Investment can be easily financed; R.O.I ranges between 1.5 and 2.5 years including installation costs; Short delivery time approx. 6 months
- Nicholas Confuorto, CR Ocean Engineering presented the ‘’ECA Requirements and the choices we make’’. Many shipowners/operators are faced with having to decide between switching to a low sulfur fuel or embracing alternate solutions such as LNG or Scrubbers. The presentation addressed the effect of fuel pricing and shows the impact on the industry. Details about scrubbing design and installation were discussed in order to demystifying the concept. The presentation aimed at providing up to date information about the regulations, the scrubber design and its uptake around the globe. Demystifying the scrubber option will help interested shipowners more accurately evaluate the available options to arrive at an optimum solution for their fleet.
- Andrea Carli, Air Life SRL gave a presentation on ‘’Using Selective Catalytic Reduction to comply with NOX Tier III’’. He reminded that for areas designated as NOx Emission Control Areas, new ships will need to meet the standards of Tier III, a reduction of 80% compared to Tier I standards. IMO MARPOL Annex VI imposes mandatory standards for the emissions of new build engines, according to which Tiers I, II, III were set. Airlife’s selective catalytic reduction system effectively removes 90% of NOx emitted from the exhaust gas of a ship and also the emission of carbon monoxide and other hydrocarbons in compliance with the IMO MARPOL Annex VI.
- Dimitrios Tsalapatis, COSTAMARE Shipping analysed the ‘’NOX Tier III Considerations from the ship manager perspective’’. He said that adopting a limited speed for the ECA areas for Tier III will be possible of applying a reduced Tier III application on engines limited in power output by ECA sailing. In mean time other possibilities and less polluted as NECA tuning or separate water injection or water emulsification or combination of the proved systems as EGR or SCR can be selected. He concluded that the overall efficiency will be better and the absolute level of emission will be minimized simultaneous that the APEX and OPEX for the shipping companies will be considerable lower.
Panel No.6 : Gas as a Fuel
- Victor Alessandrini, GTT referred to the ‘’Innovative solutions for LNG fueled commercial ships’’. The presentation showed how GTT is adapting its technology to the “LNG fuel marine” segment through four main examples: i. The concrete example of the 2,200m3 bunker barge under fabrication in the US ii. Membrane industrialization scheme adapted to LNG fuel shipping industry iii. GTT is upgrading membrane tank pressure design to 2barg with minimum impacts to manage pressure issues as part of BOG management iv. how GTT membrane technology provides volume efficiency.
- George Dimopoulos, DNV GL Maritime presented ways for ‘’Developing & Operating Better LNG Ships’’. He stated that future and emerging trades, markets, export facilities as well as propulsion technologies call for innovation in LNG carrier ship design. He presented the results of the LNGreen joint development project between DNVGL, Gaslog, GTT and Hyundai Heavy Industries that developed an LNG carrier concept with significantly improved efficiency by more than 8%, within the bounds of today’s technology, ready to be ordered and built.
- Antonis Trakakis, Arista Shipping discussed the ‘’Ship Manager Considerations for a practical LNG Bulk Carrier Design’’. He referred to the Project Forward, launched between Arista Shipping and ABS in 2013 and expanded with the entry of GTT and Deltamarin in 2015. Its objective is the application of LNG on bulk carrier vessels, for the purpose of meeting all current and forthcoming environmental regulations. The analysis carried out yielded as outcome of the project an application with LNG membrane tanks fitted in the hull and 4 stroke engines. He said that CAPEX-OPEX analysis seen through different price scenaria of LNG and 0.5 % sulfur fuel give very positive results with very short payback periods
- John Kokarakis, Bureau Veritas presented the ‘’Green FSRU for the future’’. He explained that FSRUs constitute the last link in the LNG chain. They are floating terminals delivering natural gas. Their unique features are the high pressure pumps and vaporizer clusters. There are various types of vaporizers, whose selection is a strong function of the installation location and the surrounding infrastructure. Utilization of various options for heating the LNG can lead to green heating-power-plants of very high efficiency given the cryogenic temperatures. Fuel economy is achieved by retrieving part of the heating energy. Compliance with existing green/environmental regulations is demonstrated in the Environmental Impact Assessment Manual.
All sessions
Finally
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