No one has the playbook for the Covid-19 outbreak

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“No one has the playbook for the Covid-19 outbreak”

Chris, the current Covid-19 outbreak prevented you from travelling to Europe. At the moment, it is not fully predictable how much the global maritime industry will be affected by the virus and its implications.

How do you evaluate the current situation?

Everyone at ABS is working to support the brave men and women on board vessels who are keeping world trade flowing, often at significant personal cost. Many families, especially in Europe, have been impacted personally with significant loss.

No one has the playbook for the Covid-19 outbreak. It is both tragic and unprecedented. Industries are learning and adapting to this new reality on the fly, where new methods of working virtually and remotely are being devised and implemented in real-time.

Quite frankly, what we are learning through the Covid-19 situation is the importance and value of risk-versus-risk decision making and leveraging digital technologies to change the dimensions of what we do and how we do it as a means to extend the safety protection frontier.

The global response to the current threat may be the first example of the digital era’s ability to improve public health by using technology to restrict the spread of an epidemic, potentially saving countless lives – a scenario in which devastation may be measured in billions of dollars rather than millions of lives.

So in today’s business, the role of classification societies becomes increasingly important. What do you consider the most pressing issues in 2020 and the years to come?

The maritime industry continues its own digitally driven movement into conditionbased approaches and real-time, risk-based, data driven decision making, developing technologies that enable many of us to do our jobs without being physically present at the work site. In parallel, our regulatory

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Source: ABS

INTERVIEW The maritime industry continues to face significant challenges, both in regard to economical pressure and environmental performance. Comprehensive guidance and notations from experienced bodies become indispensable in this respect. Ship&Offshore spoke with Christopher J. Wiernicki, chairman, president and CEO of ABS, about the role of classification societies and the future of the maritime industry.

»The industry is experiencing three major changes: market uncertainty, the impact of regulations on the carbon journey and the rate of change of technology« landscape continues to transform under complex, performance-based, data-centric regimes. Shipping operations rely increasingly on integrated networks, software and data transfer solutions to operate with greater efficiency. Also, digitally powered interconnections between onboard equipment and shore-based systems are redefining the traditional ship-to-shore interface.

The industry is experiencing three major changes: market uncertainty, the impact of regulations on the carbon journey and the rate of change of technology. These respond to four industry challenges: low-carbon shipping; the speed and scope of digitalisation; the growing cyber threat and addressing safety risks introduced by the pace of change. The result of this is the increasing importance of three global industry shaping effects: Environmental, Social, and Govern-

ance (ESG); International Safety Management (ISM) and digital technologies.

Starting with digitalisation: just recently, ABS has announced its engagement in a digital asset framework pilot project in Canada. Can you elaborate a bit on that?

We have a pilot programme with the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) and Defence Research and Development Canada to deliver the ABS Digital Asset Framework for the RCN’s Maritime Coastal Defence Vessels.

This forms the foundation of a broader conditioned-based class (CBC) program that transforms ship classification from a calendar-based schedule to a conditionbased model.

This is just the latest in a succession of landmark CBC projects we are delivering with commercial partners and navies

around the world. Earlier this year we announced a pioneering condition-based class pilot project with P&O Maritime Logistics.

It builds on a pioneering CBC project between ABS and the US Navy’s Military Sealift Command (MSC) that has been running since early 2018. The industry’s first bow-to-stern CBC project sees ABS working in an unprecedented degree of integration with both MSC and vendors to share data and enrich the digital picture of three vessels. MSC is finding the ABS digital twin technology improves readiness, optimises maintenance and minimises unplanned failures.

In general, classification societies focus a lot on digitalisation these days, specifically on the protection from cyber attacks. What does ABS offer its clients in regard to cyber security?

As digitalisation has become a market reality, the cyber threat landscape is evolving faster than capabilities are being built, making cyber security a business imperative.

Safety today is moving away from things that you can see and touch, to things you cannot see; software, data and cyber are the perfect examples of that. ABS was the first to recognise this and the need to develop next generation safety approaches that draw on all our expertise as a technical integrator.

Our cyber risk experts have developed a unique approach to measuring and managing cyber security risk for a single asset or an entire fleet. that is easily understandable and scalable. It reduces cyber risk with comprehensive IT and OT capabilities at every stage of a Cyber Defense Program.

Further, the ABS FCI Cyber Risk™ Model was developed following a two-year research contract between ABS and the Maritime Security Center—a US Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence — led by Stevens Institute of Technology and the US Department of Defense.

This approach quantifies cyber security risk and gives owners and operators a prac-

tical, actionable strategy to reduce cyber risk onboard a vessel.

Another major topic for the industry and thus for ABS is, as you said, the decarbonisation of shipping within the IMO CO2 targets for 2030 and 2050, respectively. What measures does ABS see most suitable and promising in order to reduce greenhouse gases significantly?

The decarbonisation challenge can be regarded as a complex riddle with three elements: vessel energy efficient technologies; low and zero carbon or carbon neutral fuels; and operational optimisation.

Each of these will impact capital expenditure, vessel design, trade routes and cargo selected, as well as the regulatory framework which will have to consider the changes and nature of technology and operations.

Perhaps most importantly, choosing the right technology should be influenced by two key criteria: the type of vessel and its operating profile, i.e., where and what it will trade.

All elements have a role to play, but not all elements will contribute the same to decarbonisation. Furthermore, not all these elements exhibit the same maturity level.

We understand that there is low hanging fruit that could be part of the technology mix already, such as air lubrication and/ or wind assisted propulsion. We have also identified that the biggest contribution to decarbonisation will come from the introduction of low carbon fuels.

In this regard, alternative fuels and propulsion systems will play a major role. ABS recently said in a statement that all alternative fuels known at this time have limitations, even if some show promise. Can you explain this a bit further?

We are transitioning from an age of static fossil-oil fuels to an era of dynamic fuels.

Fuels that are active on a timescale. The dynamic nature of those fuels creates new challenges in many respects. With these new fuels, time is a critical factor and it must be reflected in the design of the vessel.

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On January 1st, the global sulphur cap entered into force. While there were reports about some hiccups in regard to fuel quality issues, bunkering delays and inconsistent rules by port state control, the anticipated disruption of the maritime industry appears to have failed to materialise. Would you agree?

We are only around three months into this new regulatory environment, and we continue to evaluate all the data that is coming into play.

There has been no lack of availability with regards to LSFO and no major technical issues relating to scrubbers. We have heard market feedback indicating some availability issues in relation to HFO and this was a concern from scrubber operators, especially at the beginning of the year. Regarding the quality of compliant fuels, the main consideration to take into account is the compatibility of the different blends.

What is a pressing concern at the moment is the carriage ban of HFO on >

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This creates the necessity, more than ever before, to optimise the design creating the link to the operational profile.

The spectrum of available fuel solutions is wide, but in examining each onboard technology – engines, fuel supply systems, storage, containment, etc., – taxonomies arise that can simplify decision making.

Effectively, there are three fuel pathways to 2030 and beyond: the LNG, or ‘light gas’ pathway; the LPG/methanol ‘alcohol and heavy gas’ pathway; or the bio/synthetic fuel pathway.

The first two fuel families have emissions-reducing solutions already available but, broadly, most practical, carbon‘neutral’ and ‘zero’-carbon solutions remain in development. The barriers with the bio/ synthetic pathway are mainly pricing and scaling up of the technology.

As we transition away from conventional fuels, carbon capture technology has to be further developed in order to minimise the carbon emissions from vessels using carbon neutral fuels.

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- FEM strength calculation - Steel construction - Sea fastening - Conversions

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board. Some vessels without scrubbers may find themselves carrying a quantity of HFO because they were not able to use it prior to the new regime taking effect. Many of these ships may not have been able to unload the HFO before the carriage ban and now may find themselves to be non-compliant.

The safety culture in the offshore oil and gas industry remains one of the key concerns for you. Just recently, ABS has been awarded more than USD 2.1 million for two projects.

What is the background here?

The funding from the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is for projects focused on strengthening safety culture not just in the offshore oil and gas industry but in maritime and wider industry in general.

It is typical of how ABS has been shaping the future of the marine and offshore industries for nearly 160 years of safetydriven development. We are likely to see as much innovation in the coming years as we have witnessed in the past century and a half – this is the challenge we are scaling up to meet and we will do so safely.

When it comes to safety, some of the regulations are severely outdated. The latest SOLAS Convention rules, covering fire safety on board container vessels, for example, were developed in 1983, when the biggest container vessel was just under 3,500 TEU. How does ABS address shortcomings like this?

Development of regulation is going to have to accelerate to remain technically feasible

and economically viable. I know the IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim well and I will be writing to him soon, encouraging him to take a hard look at SOLAS, a regulation that was drafted long before the internet and the smart phone. It’s a regulation that needs to be upgraded and this is a challenge to regulation overall to be able to allow for the rapid rate of technological change.

I believe the International Safety Management (ISM) Code is potentially a framework for the industry as we move into the digital 4.0 world. It is built from a systems perspective and to be indifferent to the technology, recognising that future safety is synonymous with security and reliability. I think ISM in general is going to become an important tool.

Open registry approves remote surveys amid deepening Covid-19 crisis LISCR | The Liberian International Ship & Corporate Registry (LISCR), has given the go-ahead for technology developed by Italian classification society, RINA, to be used for remote inspections of ships flying its flag. Italian shipowner, d’Amico, plans to test the RINA system in a pilot project.

Faced with growing global disruption, LISCR’s move could soon be followed by other flag administrations, the classification society suggested.

Alfonso Castillero, COO of LISCR, stressed the importance of operational flexibility and adjustments to procedures to shield personnel from infection whilst also increasing efficiency. “RINA’s remote inspection technology is proven and robust and facilitates the normal operation of our fleet by making vessel inspection completely accessible during a time when surveyor travel is nearly impossible.”

Remote inspection devices have gained substantial ground recently, but experts believe that Covid-19 will hasten their takeup. RINA Services’ CEO, Nello Sulfaro, noted: “In addition to remote inspections techniques such as drones, ROVs etc., we provide a sophisticated portfolio headset with camera complete with head-up display and a new smartphone app. The app is

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Shipowner d’Amico is using RINA’s remote inspections in a pilot project

very popular at present as once it is downloaded RINA’s surveyors can take control of the phone to inspect the vessel with an appointed crew member on board.

“The app call also be used by a surveyor attending a ship to get technical support from other RINA specialists ashore.

There is no doubt in my mind that this is the technology of the future and I am pleased that RINA is in a position to maintain business continuity for our marine customers during this challenging time.”

Source: RINA

Salvatore d’Amico, Fleet director at d’Amico and Honorary Consul of the Republic of Liberia, said: “For many years now, the d’Amico Group has been collaborating with RINA to apply technology to the shipping industry which, at this time more than ever, proves to be essential in inspecting ships remotely when surveyors can’t go on board.

We are very satisfied with the agreement between RINA and LISCR, one of the most important registers in the world, and with which the d’Amico Group has been collaborating for a long time.”