2022 GREEN4SEA Virtual Forum: ESG is industry’s new priority in the sustainability agenda

Session 1: Green Shipping Challenges – Presentations

Ansuman Ghosh, Director Risk Assessment, UK P&I Club, mentioned that the transition to a green maritime sector is among industry’s key challenges; in this context, scaling up zero carbon fuels and implementing strategic planning are necessary to adapt to the new terms and standards.

Keith B. Letourneau, Partner Maritime, BLANKROME, referred to air emissions updates in the maritime sector, presenting the IMO’s, EU’s and USA’s approach on the issue, while stressing the challenges ahead for the GHG reduction and the regulatory landscape.

Panos Zachariadis, Technical Director, Atlantic Bulk Carriers Management LTD, discussed how the EU ETS and IMO CII will change shipping industry and will redefine the relationship between owners and charterers. As the EU ETS law is not drafted, all managed ships will have a problem since the Regulations is not ship-specific but ‘Manager-Specific’, he noted.

Donal Gregory, Director, EGCSA, highlighted the vital role that scrubbers play in reducing CO2 emissions, and stressed how important is to implement the regulation properly, having a goal-based approach. NGOs continue to make unsubstantiated claims of harm caused by ESGC discharge water, but no assessment has been made of IMO hybrid fuels, he said.

Jad Mouawad, CEO, Mouawad Consulting AS, gave a presentation on the Ballast Water Management Convention – and its implementation status worldwide and highlighted that now is the right time for operators to identify the technology and manufacturer best fitted for their ships and understand the retrofit process.

Session #2 – Focus Presentations

Marina Suzuki, GHG Expert of Zero-Emission Transition Center, ClassNK, noticed that as climate change is gaining more and more attention on a global scale, companies are increasingly setting their ambition to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. ClassNK evaluates to what extent the CO2 emissions from the customer’s fleet are aligned with their targets.

Martin Hees, International Sales Manager, Aquametro Oil & Marine AG, gave a presentation about the Shaft Power Meter, its recent measurement and application, highlighting that it is the key component for optimizing fuel/propulsion efficiency.

Session #3 – IMO/EU Legislation, EEXI, CII – Presentations

Panagiotis Psycharis, Environmental & Energy Performance Engineer, PRIME, gave an overview of the IMO’s environmental regulation regarding the short-term GHG strategy, referring to the data acquisition and its challenges in the era of digitalization.

Iason Zacharioudakis, Operational Technology & Energy Manager, Latsco Marine Management Inc., referred to key challenges of environmental compliance, explaining what ‘Fit for 55’ means from shipping industry. One of the major challenge to achieve the environmental ambitious targets is data integrity, and then to develop standards and processes for data transparency and validation, he said.

Nikos Melachropoulos, Technical Consultant, American Club, talked about the Energy Efficiency Index for Existing Ships (EEXI) & Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII). With regards to EEXI, he highlighted that in total more than 30,000 vessels will be affected when it comes into effect in 2023 and be revised in 2025 as planned.

Prof. Dimitrios V. Lyridis, Associate Professor, National Technical University of Athens, presented a holistic approach on the modern port challenges and the possibility of their green transition and demonstrated a case study for the Port of Igoumenitsa in Greece.

Session #4 – Air Emissions, IMO, EU, CII, EEXI –  Panel Discussion

Climate change is a key concern for sustainable shipping. IMO has set ambitious goals starting from 2023 with ships in need to calculate their EEXI and establish their annual operational CII ratings. In addition, operators should have in mind that important milestones for the EU MRV and IMO DCS are coming up in the first half of 2022.

Experts of Session 4: Dr. Edmund Hughes, Director, Green Marine Associates Ltd.; Dr. John Kokarakis, Technical And Business Development Director, Southeast Europe, Black Sea & Adriatic Zone, Bureau Veritas; Panos Kourkountis, Technical Director, Sea Traders SA; Miltos Messinezis, Sales Engineer, OCEANKING Technical & Trading S.A.; Mark Smith, Loss Prevention Executive, North of England P&I Club and ; Stela Spiraj, Environmental Expert, RINA debated on next steps in implementing effectively strategy of air emissions reductions

Experts briefly referred to new emission regulations that are coming into place, pushing stakeholders to become greener. This is actually the target and given the climate emergency, the maritime industry needs to ensure smooth transition and adapt successfully. However, since there are different schemes, both at IMO and EU level, and not one solution to fit all ships, there is need for harmonization and a common framework. There are tricky challenges towards emissions reduction and confusion as well. New EEXI and CII, for instance, are not clear how they will impact ship operating routes. Key concerns of these measures refer to the cost of compliance, the retrofitting, plans. EEXI is a technical measure while CII is an operational; by definition, this is key difference, however, measures that are taken to improve EEXI will apply to CII as well, although EEXI will not have a dramatic reduction in CO2 emissions eventually. These are short term measures and many more are coming in the mid term (MBMs) and long term (alternative fuels). As such, industry needs to take one step at a time and focus on improving related KPIs.

Furthermore, industry needs to be aware of how the global economy will react with regards to these new parameters which are going to have a great geopolitical impact. EU ETS creates additional challenges to ship emissions, and therefore there is need to clarify how the proposed EU measures will return back to finance green projects as early movers have a huge financial burden and need incentives to move forward. In that regard, collaboration is vital and green corridors is an example of the collaboration needed that can add value. It was suggested to develop hubs around each port and link sectors who use energy sources in order to support alternative fuels and build an ecosystem outside the ports. All experts agreed that the IMO has a key role to play towards as it is the fundamental instrument to define the potential collaboration and unify everybody in order to avoid local schemes. Overall, many actions are taken into decarbonization and minimizing carbon footprint; the shipping industry is part of the change, playing a vital role.

Session #5 – Shipping Decarbonization – Presentations

Harilaos N. Psaraftis, Professor, Technical University of Denmark, gave a presentation entitled “Shipping Decarbonization: Status & Prospects” referring briefly to short measures adopted during MEPC76 and two ways to measure CII which are both endorsed by the IMO as well as to MBMs for sustainable shipping which although suspended back in 2013, are now in the agenda again.

Dallas D. Smith, VP of LNG & Alternative Fuels, The Liberian Registry, shared insights for maritime decarbonization from the Flag States perspective,k highlighting that starting in 2023, ships will get a CII rating of their energy efficiency using rating categories A,B,C,D or E where A is best. Ships rated D or E for three consecutive years will be required to submit a corrective action plan.

Mark Smith, Loss Prevention Executive, North of England P&I Club, provided the “P&I Club’s approach to decarbonization, highlighting the importance of crew training towards. Mr. Smith explained how North Members can navigate through their dedicated decarbonization website, share their decarbonization stories and find technical guidance.

Miltos Messinezis, Sales Engineer, OCEANKING Technical & trading S.A., gave a presentation on the carbon capture technologies, explaining that these are separated in pre-combustion; oxyfuel capture method and post-combustion from exhaust gas. They offer many advantages as they are easy to handle, are combined with a SOx scrubber and are suitable for the existing fleet.

Gavin Allwright, Secretary General, International Windship Association (IWSA), talked about the application of wind power in the shipping industry, presenting market forecasts and the pipelines status towards industry’s journey to decarbonization.

Sessions #6 – Ships Recycling – Presentations

Dr. Konstantinos Galanis, Chairman of the Board Ship Recycling, International Ship Recycling Association, talked about the EU Taxonomy, which is a classification system establishing a list of environmentally sustainable economic activities, and its relation to ship recycling.

Henning Gramann, CEO, Green Ship Recycling Service GmbH, provided an overview of all the steps required to develop and implement a recycling strategy, highlighting the importance of creating transparent processes and strong supervision.

Yuvraj Thakur, Verifavia Shipping, General Manager-VTS India, VP Commercial VERIFAVIA SHIPPING, CEO VERIFAVIA SHIPPING IHM Singapore Pte Ltd, explained the notion of the Inventory of Hazardous Materials, while presenting the company’s maintenance process and systems.

RightShip received the 2022 GREEN4SEA Sustainability Award for launching the Carbon Accounting Reporting Tool for monitoring, measuring & benchmarking shipping-related GHG emissions. The user is provided with GHG summary data visualization which analyzes vessel performance, aligning with the Sea Cargo Charter methodology. Other short-listed nominees of this categories were: ABS, American Hellenic Hull, Cyprus Open Maritime Exchange Platform (C.O.M.E) – Cyprus Shipping Deputy Ministry and Thome Group.

Eyesea received the 2022 GREEN4SEA Clean Shipping Award for taking action to map global pollution and maritime hazards. Eyesea uses technology and the support of seafarers, ship owners, managers and maritime professionals to collect and process oceanic pollution data. Other short-listed nominees of this categories were: Cargo Owners for Zero Emission Vessels (coZEV), Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD), ZeroNorth and ZESTAs.

Windward received the 2022 GREEN4SEA Initiative Award for its ‘Data for Decarbonization Program’ that creates large datasets gathered from maritime stakeholders to build AI models that will predict the carbon emissions of any vessel voyage, and support the optimization of the whole pre-fixture process. Other short-listed nominees of this categories were: The Ocean Cleanup, NanoVapor, METIS Cyberspace Technology and SADeepSea Technologies.

BERG Propulsion received the 2022 GREEN4SEA Technology Award for its ‘Direct Drive Electric’ which accelerates drive into electric propulsion. Its integrated design, simplified installation and better efficiency address the pressing need to improve transition options to vessel electrification. Other short-listed nominees of this categories were: MAN Energy Solutions, Silverstream Technologies, Wärtsilä and WasteFuel.

Maran Tankers Management Inc. received the 2022 GREEN4SEA Tanker Operator Award for taking steps into changing the profile of their fleet with the latest order of dual fuel tankers. From 2016 to 2021, in total 19 energy efficient Eco VLCCs have been already delivered to the company while there are orders for more within 2023. Other short-listed nominees of this categories were: BW LPG, Hafnia Pte Ltd, Kyklades Maritime Corporation and Thome Group.

Norden received the 2022 GREEN4SEA Dry Bulk Operator Award for being a founding signatory of the Sea Cargo Charter which establishes a common framework for reporting on shipping emissions, as well as a target to decrease of 2% in carbon emissions on an annual basis. Other short-listed nominees of this categories were: Eagle Bulk, Eastern Pacific Shipping, ESL Shipping and Marla Dry Bulk Shipmanagement Inc.

Mr. Stamatis Bourboulis, General Manager, EURONAV SHIP MANAGEMENT (HELLAS) Ltd received the 2022 GREEN4SEA Personality Award, sponsored by ERMA FIRST, for striving for a more sustainable shipping, being at the helm of EURONAV since its inception in November 2005. Throughout his career, he has also worked in the chemical industry, ship building and ship repair shipyards in Greece, having significantly contributed in favor of green shipping practices.

Captain Rajesh Unni, Founder and CEO of Synergy Marine Group, received the 2022 GREEN4SEA Leadership Award, sponsored by MacGregor, for his outstanding contribution to the maritime industry and his innovative leadership, transforming Synergy into one of the world’s leading ship managers that paves the way towards a more sustainable future with a strong focus on crew wellbeing, digitalization and environmentally responsible policies.

EXPLORE MORE ABOUT 2022 GREEN4SEA AWARDS HERE

Session #7 – Future Fuels – Presentations

Vijay Rao, Loss prevention Associate, Steamship Insurance Management Services Limited, gave a presentation about the marine fuels of the future and referred to pros and cons of each option. For example, LNG is a well matured technology in the supply chain but is an explosive gas. Methanol is a clean fuel but toxic when inhaled.

Capt. Akshat Arora, Senior Surveyor, Standard Club, said that the key drivers influencing ship decarbonization are: regulations and policies, access to investors and capital, expectations of cargo owners and consumers. Outlook for technologies and fuels. He also referred to energy efficiency technologies such as: hull coatings, air lubrication and hydrogen fuel cells.

Jamie Wallace, Legal Director, Standard Club, shared his views on the alternative fuels for the maritime industry from the insurer’s perspective, noting that the wide range of disputes possible regarding allocation of compliance, risk and costs and the uncertainty of current regulations entail charterparty challenges.

Gregory A. Dolan, Chief Executive Officer, Methanol Institute, highlighted the rapid development of methanol use around the world and referred briefly to the advanced fuel technologies that will change the industry in the years to come.

Bill Stamatopoulos, Business Development Manager, VeriFuel, gave an overview of the benefits and challenges of biofuels in the marine sector, emphasizing that they are an indispensable stepping-stone towards decarbonization.

Dr. Andreas Schmid, General Manager Technology Development, WinGD, gave a presentation on LNG from the engine builder’s perspective, highlighting that LNG can be the transition fuel needed but the industry must reduce the methane emissions to an absolute minimum. Synthetic methane as a drop in fuel has a very high potential, he concluded.

Session #8 – Alternative Fuel Options – Panel Discussion (No presentations)

LNG is not the only fuel option as the industry moves forward; LPG, biofuels, methanol, hydrogen, synthetic fuels, shore power, wind and nuclear options are amongst the promising alternatives. Each of these options have both pros and cons while technology uptake still remains the biggest challenge.

Experts of Session 8, Conor Fürstenberg Stott, Maritime Director, Ammonia Energy Association; Berit Hinnemann, Head of Decarbonisation Business Development, A.P. Møller – Mærsk A/S; Dr. John Kokarakis, Technical And Business Development Director, Southeast Europe, Black Sea & Adriatic Zone, Bureau Veritas; Madadh MacLaine, Secretary General, Zero Emissions Ship Technology Association; Lampros Nikolopoulos, Projects & Dry Docking Engineer, EURONAV and; Dr. Andreas Schmid, General Manager Technology Development, WindGD, discussed about the key challenges, drivers and barriers of the alternative fuel options.

A diverse panel of experts debated on the technical level and key milestones of the alternative fuel options as well as competitive strengths and weaknesses. All experts agreed that ambitious decarbonization targets are on the way up to 2050, including many challenges. In that regard, stakeholders need motivation which comes from legislation but it also is self-driven as many stakeholders are now asking for green solutions to make a real change and act in favor of a better future for our planet. Experts acknowledged that we need more than the motivation that comes from awareness; to make actual changes during this decade, we need policies, carbon price, reinvest money in technology and action.

As a key trend, few speakers noticed that shipowners are in favour on green methanol as the technology is ready and the legislation is under development. What is more, methanol is another feasible fuel as it works with bio fuels and can make an impact. Green ammonia has also a great potential, but more work needs to be done for its safety and technical usability. Hydrogen is a very promising and attractive fuel but there is need to invest in technology and its transition to acquire know-how. LNG is not the only one solution, but it can be used as a transition fuel to net zero operations. In general, all alternative fuels show several advantages in their technology uptake and production. Which one will prevail is not easy to predict today, however few experts agreed that wind propulsion is considered as a very promising alternative source of power, that has come to the front, offering many benefits. Furthermore, it is difficult to make predictions of the best fuel option for the future due to uncertainty and ‘black swan’ events, such as pandemic and Ukraine-Russian war and other geopolitical events. In that regard, many parameters will need to be considered for the decision while the use of proper metrics can help to determine the best possible sustainable option. Concluding, experts agreed that key priorities are to enable the scale up of the production of green fuels and enhance collaboration across the supply chain so that green fuels to become available.

Session #9 – ESG in Shipping – Presentations

Prof. Dr-Ing Orestis Schinas, Partner, HHX.blue, referred to the several challenges and opportunities of sustainability ship finance. As he said, the freight market does not pay higher for green services while carbon tax and MBM will impact operations. Thus, financing of assets of higher prices is required.

Aishwarya Iyer, ESG Manager, RightShip, talked about the ESG challenges in the maritime sector, giving an overview of the financial costs required to decarbonize shipping and shedding light between the link of ESG and the financial needs.

Konstantinos Papoutsis, Sustainability Manager, Euronav, gave a presentation entitled “ESG unleashing shipping dynamics’’, highlighting that shipping is gaining grounds in addressing ESG and as a key priority is to build trust and transparency through the ESG performance disclosure.

Session #10 – ESG in Shipping – Panel Discussion

The Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) have become the new normal for maritime stakeholders; industry is currently focusing on how to apply a holistic transformation of its operations to address ESG challenges and apply requirements from a monitoring and reporting perspective.

Speakers of Session 10: Anuj Chopra, Co-Founder, ESGplus LLC; Kostas G. Gkonis, Director / Secretary General, INTERCARGO; Carleen Lyden Walker, Co-Founder and Executive Director, NAMEPA; Stavros Meidanis, Managing Director, Capital-Executive Ship Management Corp. and; Andrew Stephens, Executive Director, Sustainable Shipping Initiative, highlighted the importance of ESG for the maritime industry and their impact to strategic thinking.

Experts agreed that the last couple years, the maritime industry has embraced ESG. The pandemic crisis has brought both challenges and opportunities, but the sustainability issues are on top in industry’s agenda. With regards to ESG issues, the main challenge for shipping is the ‘G’ dimension (Governance); in oder to address this successfully, decision makers need to realize there is no future for the organizations lacking vision and leadership. Another significant driver of ESG, not to be forgotten, is safety. Overall, the ESG is a journey that can only offer benefits, but stakeholders need to embrace change towards. Albeit the pandemic, we have already witnessed enormous developments, however the forthcoming regulations create a complex landscape. On the other hand, due to COVID-19, many challenges arose for our seafarers. Here comes ESG, that demonstrates an opportunity to make real change. In that regard, there is need for a level playing field, investments, transparency and ESG reporting.

The demand of social justice, D&I and transparency governance are now key drivers of change. As an industry, we also need to; focus more on diversity; bring real change in culture; implement SASH (Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment) policies; focus on training, Only if we demonstrate commitment towards these and take action, we will attract new talents. For effective compliance the following are important: to understand who the stakeholders are; to implement a global framework for ESG and a standard measurement for performance; to invest in new technology today and allocate resources; to focus on effective leadership and educate small organizations about the ESG requirements; to focus on standards – GRI needs to be adapted to maritime as well and; to make ESG part of the business strategy, to embed it into the corporate culture. To succeed towards, industry needs to develop the right mindset and gain the respect it deserves. By operating in a higher level which includes operating all dimensions of ESG and being open to new ideas and trends, maritime organizations can ensure business survival and become proactive.