environment Photo credit: Joonas Kortelainen, www.shipspotting.com
to vocal elements of opposition to port growth. It is therefore increasingly vital that ports and terminals establish their own tool-box of measures to gain public confidence and Green Marine fits the bill nicely. GreenTech provides an opportunity to showcase the latest and greatest in environmental technologies and for industry to assess their effectiveness. It is no secret that ship builders world-wide are falling over themselves to design and build ever more fuelefficient vessels. This, in combination with slow steaming in most sectors, is dramatically reducing all aspects of marine industry air emissions. The prospect for LNG to emerge as a primary fuel in the marine industry is also capturing the imagination. Visionary governments are making investments in LNG bunkering infrastructure and owners in short sea trades are leading the charge in embracing LNG as a long-term option in meeting the demands of Emissions Control Areas and the longer-term global standards of allowable sulphur content in fuel. Here again, Green Marine has shown itself to be capable of amending the program to accommodate whatever new demands or technologies might come our way. Having had the opportunity to attend the GreenTech conference in Chicago in 2011 and in Quebec City in 2012, I very much look forward to
Viking Grace, the world’s first large hybrid LNG fuelled cruise ferry – note LNG storage on stern (classed by Lloyd’s Register).
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GreenTech provides an opportunity to showcase the latest and greatest in environmental technologies and for industry to assess their effectiveness.
this year’s conference in our home city. Green Marine can be assured of our strong support in ensuring a successful outcome and equally, we will do everything in our power to ensure the success of Green Marine’s new West Coast Committee which will be a hub for the growing western membership base.
Stephen Brown joined the Chamber of Shipping of British Columbia in September 2008. He currently sits on several committees and boards representing the interests of the B.C. shipping community. He can be reached at stephen@cosbc.ca. For more information on the Chamber, please visit: www.cosbc.ca.
GreenTech 2013 is just around the corner
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reen Marine’s 6th annual conference on green technologies and innovation for marine transportation promises two days of presentations, panel discussions and networking opportunities. GreenTech 2013 will take place at the Hyatt Regency, starting May 29th. Andreas Chrysostomou, who chairs the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MPEC) at the International Maritime Organization (IMO), will be the keynote speaker. The conference will basically follow the structure that attendees have praised over the past five years. Topics of broader interest –such as perspectives on sustainability in the maritime industry or LNG projects- will be addressed in general sessions, after which parallel sessions will be held for representatives of port authorities and terminal facili-
ties in one conference room, and for the delegates from shipping companies in another. The program is now online. Last year’s conference in Quebec City was the most successful to date with 160 participants and a record 18 exhibition booths. More exhibitors have already booked a space for this year’s conference and there are just a few booths left. The opening reception will be held in the exhibition room following a harbor tour sponsored by Port Metro Vancouver. Finally, GreenTech would not be complete without the presentation of the Green Marine certificates to all of the companies participating in the environmental program. To find out more about GreenTech 2013, or to register, visit: http://www.green-marine.org/annual-conference. May 2013 BC Shipping News 31