The event was organized by SAFETY4SEA having as sponsors the following organizations: CR Ocean Engineering, ERMA FIRST, Green-Jakobsen A/S, MarineTraffic, RightShip, RISK4SEA, SQEMARINE, Standard P&I Club, and World-Link Communications. Supporters of the event included Maritime London, Hellenic Engineers Society of Great Britain, INTERCARGO, IWSA, Sailors’ Society, and Seafarers UK.

The event focused on safety, and green challenges for shipping, with discussions touching upon emissions reduction measures, as well as safety of seafarers and navigation. Shipping is responsible for transporting the vast majority of goods, making safe navigation a necessity. Human element plays a pivotal role in ensuring safety, and speakers provided their thoughts on improving support for seafarers. What is more, with the 2020 sulphur cap already implemented, the panels discussed about the efficiency of new fuels, and provided updates on the progress of alternative emissions reduction technologies, such as scrubbers and wind propulsion.

Opening the event, Mr. Apostolos Belokas, Managing Editor, SAFETY4SEA, welcomed the delegates and speakers, thanked sponsors, and gave the word to shipping experts.

Presentations and discussions formed as follows:

 

Panel #1- Sustainable Shipping

Opening the first panel, Martin Crawford-Brunt, Chief Executive Officer, Rightship, focused on the mega trend of decarbonization, while analyzing the importance of having an efficient fleet towards the emissions reduction. With the aim to create a zero-emission industry, he presented how RightShip supports maritime companies to achieve this goal, using leading data and technology.

Philip Diacon, Owner/ Director, Dryad Global, discussed about the maritime security issue and more specifically about the Indian Ocean incidents occurred during the period of 2011-2019. He also gave his insight on the IO operations, which can incur some of the highest security and related costs in the world.

Moving forward, Dustin Eno, COO, Navigate Response, analyzed how the global interest in shipping’s environmental footprint has doubled in the last decade. From wind-assisted propulsion to alternative fuels, he noted that shipping is failing to engage with its concerned stakeholders, despite the investments to improve efficiency.

Ricky Nilsson, Regional Sales Manager EMEA, MarineTraffic, talked about the transformation of the shipping companies through the intelligence solutions and the benefits that MarineTraffic provides. Discovering information and vessels positions of ships around the world, MarineTraffic offers a comprehensive coverage around the maritime market.

 

Panel #2 – Human Element

Natalie Shaw, Director Employment Affairs, ICS, opened the second panel discussing about the age discrimination, which is a potential form of unfair treatment at work, given that the age gap between employees in the workplace can now be as much as 50 years. Ms. Shaw refered to ICS a guidance on age discrimination which recently released with the aim to promote a more diverse working environment onboard ships.

Peter Swift, Chairman, Sailors’ Society, shared his experience on supporting the seafarers. More specifically, Mr. Swift talked about the Sailor’ Society Crisis Response Network, which provides pre-departure awareness, training, 24/7 response service, emergency welfare funds and assistance to every seafarer.

During his presentation, Apostolos Belokas, Managing Editor, SAFETY4SEA, focused on SAFETY4SEA’s crew wellness survey, examining the factors around seafarers’ life while working at sea. Mr. Belokas presented the rate of satisfaction among seafarers in several fields and for the first time, the key findings from SAFETY4SEA Crew Wellness survey which conducted during the last semester of 2019.

 

Panel #3 – Loss Prevention

 Mr. John Dolan, Deputy Director of Loss Prevention, The Standard P&I Club discussed about misdeclared cargoes on board container ships. Mr. Dolan commented that 1/3 of dangerous goods containers are misdeclared, meaning that around 6.6 million containers yearly are misdeclared. In addition, he presented the most common types of misdeclared cargo, as well as reasons of misdeclaration.

Capt. Mark Bull, Principal, Trafalgar Navigation Limited, questioned why the ISM Code is failing, after more than 20 years since its implementation. Capt. Bull firstly provided a brief history of the ISM Code, as well as description of the five main areas where the Code has failed and then he explained that any potential failures affect the crew; however, nobody has reviewed the Code to ensure its effectiveness, he concluded.

John Radcliffe, Forensic Engineer / Marine Surveyor, Taylor Marine, focused on mega-boxship casualties from a surveyor’s perspective. In his presentation, Mr. Radcliffe analyzed past mega-boxship incidents, such as the Maersk Honam and SSL Kolkata. After providing an overview of the accidents, he talked about their root causes and their implications as  well as lessons learned.

 

Panel #4 – Green Challenges

During his presentation, Gavin Allwright, Secretary, IWSA, provided a general update on the progress within the wind propulsion segment. As he noted, wind propulsion delivers savings directly at the point of
use, while there is no need for new infrastructure. Mr. Allwright also presented the stated of development for certain wind propulsion technologies, along with drivers and barriers to their implementation.

Ian Adams, Executive Director, Clean Shipping Alliance examined three studies of 2019. The first is by DNV GL on behalf of Carnival Corporation which compares the scrubber discharge washwater to various water standards. Japan also conducted an exercise to assess the effects of scrubbers’ washwater, while lastly, the CE Delft  analyzed the impacts of scrubbers’ washwater discharges on port water and sediment.

Thanos Koliopulos, Global Special Projects Manager, Marine & Offshore, London, Lloyd’s Register, talked about LNG ships as well as bunkering operations. Mr. Koliopulos provided key figures for the global gas market, and presented LNG’s uptake across ship sectors. However, he noted that methane slip and carbon capture must be further investigated.

Concluding the forum, Dimitrios I. Mountzouris, Managing Director, Hellespont Steamship Corporation, gave emphasis on the green challenges that shipping is currently facing, focusing on decarbonization, the implementation of the 2020 sulphur cap, as well as the efforts made by the sector to reduce its emissions.

Find photos from the event at SAFETY4SEA Flickr and explore more about the event at https://events.safety4sea.com/2020-safety4sea-london-forum/