Prime Marine issued its first Sustainability Report, highlighting its environmental, social and governance performance for the year of 2020.
The initiative forms part of Prime Marine strategic action plan to support our shipping industry’s decarbonisation towards the 2050 objectives of the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
As explained, the company aims to be a leader in the ship management industry by continuously:
- achieving ZERO Incident and ZERO Spill tolerance
- adopting new technologies to reduce customers’ impacts on the environment
- exploiting new horizons and new markets through new and strengthened strategic alliances
- realizing maximum efficiency superior Client Service through management excellence
In regards to the prevention of accidents with impact on the environment, Prime Marine currently maintains a system for safe and pollution-free operating practices. To this end, all of its employees comply with the pollution prevention regulations & operating procedures at all times, so as to achieve our high-level goal of zero spills at sea and continuous reduction of emissions/releases to the environment, as referred to in the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Policy. This policy further includes the company’s commitment on the provision of providing the necessary resources and assigning appropriate responsibilities and authority.
We are also operating within the framework of our IMS and implement a Quality, Safety and Health Policy that is based on the relevant ISO 14001, 45001 and 50001 standards. One of our principal objectives outlined in this Policy, is to prevent pollution of the environment while ensuring that safe practices and procedures are followed onboard. In this context, it is of our utmost priority to maintain our quality goals and objectives for the supply of reliable services which meet and exceed the expectations of charterers and ship-owners.
…the report says.
In light of the above, Prime Marine set statutory rules and regulations and took into account applicable codes, guidelines and standards recommended by the IMO, flag administrations, classification societies and maritime industry organizations.
What is more, the shipmanagement has made no spill or releases from its head office into the environment, and closely monitors the same for the fleet of technically and operationally managed vessels, with a strict zero tolerance to any release.
Any potential accidents, incidents and near misses with potential impact on the environment of the fleet of vessels it manages are fully investigated, root cause analyses are carried out and corrective and preventive actions are implemented, which are also reviewed by external auditors.
Prime Marine is externally audited as part of its ISO 14001 and ISO 50001 certifications, including its emergency response procedures and the technical/marine-vetting department collects data related to incidents from other companies in order to benchmark performance.
Flue-gas desulphurization for existing ships and newbuildings
To remind, on 1 January 2020, a new limit on the sulphur content in the fuel oil used on board ships came into force, marking a significant milestone to improve air quality, preserve the environment and protect human health.
Following IMO’s new regulation, Prime Marine has examined relevant compliance solutions, including various Marine Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems (EGCS) types, for retrofits and installation on NB vessels. Among the hybrid and closed/open loop types, the open-loop scrubber was selected as the most appropriate of such retrofit/newbuilding projects, based on a series of parameters taken into consideration including installation and operational costs.
“In line with IMO’s target to reduce the carbon intensity of transport work by at least 40% by 2030 and 70% reduction by 2050 compared to 2008, I am pleased to note that our Annual Efficiency Ratio (defined consistently with the Poseidon Principles) shows an improvement of more than 3% year-on-year, exceeding our own previously set target.
In 2020, we have also become members of the ‘Getting to Zero Coalition’. In addition, we have partnered with a UK-based engineering company to develop an on-board CO2 capture solution. We are also investigating innovative solutions to minimize the CO2 emissions from our existing fleet, while exploring alternative ‘netzero’ fuels for new buildings, and continuing to reduce and offset our own office’s GHG emissions”…Stathis Topouzoglou
Chief Executive Officer, concluded.
VIEW PRIME MARINE SUSTAINABILITY REPORT HERE
