Baltic Transport Journal 5/23

№ 5/2023 (115), SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER

ISSN 1733-6732

bimonthly-daily companion

Journal

Baltic Transport

B TJ T R I P S

Naantali, Kaskinen, Helsinki REPORT

Baltic bulk market in 2022 T E C H N O LO G Y

The importance of data strategy in terminal operations

OFFICIAL MEDIA PARTNER OF:

LEGAL

Cold ironing – hot topic

The Port of Opportunities The Port of HaminaKotka is a versatile Finnish seaport serving trade and industry. The biggest universal port in Finland is an important hub in Europe and in the Baltic Sea region.

Welcome to the Port of HaminaKotka!

haminakotka.com

Dear Readers,

I

must admit that the beginning of this year’s autumn was, if anything, chopped up. Just a blink after we published the previous issue, there was the annual Baltic Ports Conference in the more than charming town of Ystad (a summary of which you’ll find in the BPO Newsletter section). Then, the next series of BTJ Trip got rolling, first by visiting the picturesque Naantali and its seaport as well as partaking in the official launch of Finnlines’ flagship ferry, Finnsirius (stunning!). Afterwards, our other Przemek had to scramble to get from north-central Poland to Kaskinen, which was quite a challenging logistical jigsaw he nonetheless managed to solve elegantly. Meanwhile, I was on my way to Helsinki, battling a developing cold, which in normal circumstances is a pain in the neck, let alone while you’re abroad. I, however, got the job done with grace and grit, if I may say so myself. Treat yourself to a delicious cuppa joe or another brew of choice, sit comfortably, and please enjoy our footage from the north of the beautiful Baltic Sea region. Nothing – and I mean nothing! – beats standing on the quayside and taking the port atmosphere in (along with a vigorous dose of salty air!).

Additionally, the Events column hosts a digest from a seminar organised in Polish Poznań by our partners from the Port of Antwerp-Bruges in cooperation with the Flanders Investment & Trade agency..

The autumn of 2023 brought about other significant developments, too. Our good friend Kai-Dieter Classen dissects what passing the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure and FuelEU Maritime Regulations will mean for ports. Whereas the read is about cold ironing, I’m sure it’ll be a hot topic in the community for years to come (as also highlighted by e1 Marine’s Robert Schulter in his piece on how to jointly overcome the challenges that hold back the adoption of shore Good Friends by Albert Edelfelt, photo: Artvee power). Speaking of temperatures, Legal’s other piece focuses on the risks found across the cold supply chain and the means of mitigating them. Staying on the topic of safety, the In safe hands article from Maritime presents an innovative escape descent system that can save lives when danger hits the fan (the two last pieces have a hidden connection – we met TeSuCon’s Jérôme Lacroix during the latest TOC Europe, where he exhibited the Evacuator® in TT Club’s Safety Village).

Traditionally, the Report of the 5/23 edition is devoted to the regional bulk market, dry and liquid alike. However, this time around, it also houses a read that otherwise could find its place in the Technology column, namely on using drones to measure dry bulk inventories – faster, cheaper, and more accurately than with an unaided eye. As for Technology itself, there are articles on applying artificial intelligence-powered data technology to benchmark environmental-socialgovernance performance and tackle the challenges the shipping sector will face from its inclusion in the EU Emission Trading System; on using biometrical vision technology for efficient passenger terminal operations and greater customer & employee satisfaction; and on measuring what matters or, in other words, the importance of data strategy in terminal operations.

As always, the issue is topped with Transport miscellany and in it: how one should say “farewell” to their shipyards smartly, building your own original replica of an aircraft, rolling stock from the 19th century that still blows steam like there’s no tomorrow, and a portion of the port in Gdynia that’s older than the seaport itself.

Have nothing but the best read!

Przemysław Myszka

EDITORIAL Baltic Transport Journal Publisher

BALTIC PRESS SP. Z O.O. Address: ul. Pułaskiego 8 81-368 Gdynia, Poland office@baltictransportjournal.com

www.baltictransportjournal.com www.europeantransportmaps.com Board Member

BEATA MIŁOWSKA

Managing Director

PRZEMYSŁAW OPŁOCKI

Editor-in-Chief

PRZEMYSŁAW MYSZKA przemek@baltictransportjournal.com

Roving Editor

MAREK BŁUŚ marek@baltictransportjournal.com

Proofreading Editor EWA KOCHAŃSKA

Contributing Writers

KAI-DIETER CLASSEN, MISHRA KUMAR, JÉRÔME LACROIX, STEVE MARSHALL, JAANA NIEMI, ROBERT SCHULTER, FITZWILLIAM SCOTT, CHAD VAN DERRICK, MIKE YARWOOD

Art Director/DTP DANUTA SAWICKA

Head of Marketing & Sales PRZEMYSŁAW OPŁOCKI po@baltictransportjournal.com

If you wish to share your feedback or have information for us, do not hesitate to contact us at: editorial@baltictransportjournal.com

Contact us:

PRZEMYSŁAW OPŁOCKI tel.: +48 603 520 020

Cover

Janne-Petteri Kumpulainen/Port of Naantali ISSN 1733-6732

№ 5/2023 (115), SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER

Baltic Transport bimonthly-daily companion

Journal

B TJ T R I P S

Naantali, Kaskinen, Helsinki LEGAL

REPORT

Baltic bulk market in 2022

Cold ironing – hot topic

T E C H N O LO G Y

The importance of data strategy in terminal operations

OFFICIAL MEDIA PARTNER OF:

Subscriptions

Go to www.baltictransportjournal.com and click: SUBSCRIPTION or contact us at subscription@baltictransportjournal.com

5/2023 | Baltic Transport Journal | 3

EUROPE GREAT LAKES SERVICE

Liner service between Europe and the Great Lakes Container service between Antwerp and Valleyfield, Cleveland and Duluth Liner owned equipment door-to-door service More info: www.spliethoff.com or greatlakes@ spliethoff.com

CONTAINERS

BULK CARGO

PROJECT CARGO

CONTENTS

32

LEGAL

32 Keep it coolly controlled – Mitigating the risks across the cold supply chain

by Mike Yarwood 34 Cold ironing – hot topic – The EU legislation to decarbonize vessels at berth

by Kai-Dieter Classen

3

REGULAR COLUMNS

3 Editorial 8 BTJ calendar of events 9 Safety news by TT Club 10 Market SMS 12 What’s new?

14 Map news 16 Venture forth 17 What’s in the Cabinet 18 Chart of the issue: BPO Ystad Climate Declaration 20 BTJ Trip 2023 \ Naantali Compact but capacious & versatile

by Przemysław Myszka 24 BTJ Trip 2023 \ Kaskinen Catching fair wind

by Przemysław Opłocki 26 BTJ Trip 2023 \ Kaskinen A waiting game – Interview with Patrik Hellman, CEO, the Port of Kaskinen

by Przemysław Opłocki 28 BTJ Trip 2023 \ Helsinki A lesson in agility – interview with Vesa Marttinen, VP Cargo, and Nina Liljeqvist, Marketing Manager, the Port of Helsinki

by Przemysław Myszka 64 Events: For trade, the environment, and rail traffic – The Port of Antwerp-Bruges-FIT’s seminar in Poznań

by Przemysław Myszka 66 Transport miscellany 68 Who is who

38

MARITIME

38 In safe hands – Revolution in safety – now also available for terminal cranes

by Jérôme Lacroix 40 Where the rubber meets the ship – ‘DIY’ fender certification risks undermining port upgrades

by Mishra Kumar 42 At a tipping point – Jointly overcoming the challenges that hold back the adoption of shore power

by Robert Schulter

44

SUSTAINABILITY

44 How (not) to quit fossil fuels – Will FuelEU Maritime bring a significant decrease in shipping emissions by the 2040s?

by Ewa Kochańska 5/2023 | Baltic Transport Journal | 5

Moves a lot.

Changes everything.

With a maximum lifting capacity of 1,600 tons, our travelling cargo crane TCC 78000 will drive your heavy-duty projects to success. www.liebherr.com

Maritime cranes

CONTENTS

56

NEWSLETTER BPO

56 Proactive. Flexible. Resilient. How can ports present such features in times of great challenges?

57 The BPO Ystad Climate Declaration – signed at the Baltic Ports Conference 2023

58 49

REPORT

49 Baltic bulk market in 2022

by Marek Błuś and Przemysław Myszka 54 Keeping a weather eye – How to transform dry bulk inventory management with automation and drones

by Fitzwilliam Scott

TECHNOLOGY

58 The new green currency – Applying AI-powered data technology to benchmark ESG performance and tackle EU ETS challenges for shipping

by Steve Marshall 60 Helping the winners of the future – Technology for efficient terminal operations and greater customer & employee satisfaction

by Jaana Niemi 62 Measuring what matters – The importance of data strategy in terminal operations

by Chad Van Derrick 5/2023 | Baltic Transport Journal | 7

BTJ CALENDAR OF EVENTS TransLogistica Poland 2023, 7-9/11/23, PL/Warsaw, translogistica.pl TransLogistica Poland: the leading in Poland and Central-Eastern Europe business event for entrepreneurs who use or seek transport and logistics services, as well as for everyone professionally associated with the industry. It is a place where shippers and cargo owners (producers, retail chains and distributors, among others) can find comprehensive and highest-quality logistics services for their goods.

The Motorship 44th Propulsion & Future Fuels Conference, 21-23/11/23, DE/Hamburg, www.motorship.com/propulsion-and-future-fuels-conference

The conference provides senior executives with a meeting place to learn, discuss and share knowledge of the latest developments in efficient propulsion technology and low flashpoint, low carbon fuels.

Scandinavian Maritime Fair, 14-15/05/24, DK/Copenhagen, www.scandinavianmaritimefair.com Scandinavian Maritime Fair recognizes the need of bringing together the Scandinavian maritime community. The aim is to unify and leave a lasting imprint on the world. Whether designers, manufacturers, suppliers, operators, shipowners, or service providers – both onshore and offshore – this is where industry leaders, young innovative companies and decision makers meet.

it’s out!

preview

8 | Baltic Transport Journal | 5/2023

WORKING TOWARDS SAFER PRACTICES

TT Club is the leading provider of mutual insurance and related risk managment services to the international transport and logistics industry.

Its core mission is to make the industry safer and more secure. To find out more visit ttclub.com

SAFETY NEWS BY

PASSWORD? PASSWORD NordPass has conducted research according to which transport and logistics sector employees use very poor passwords to secure business accounts. The top three include the company’s name, “password,” and “123456.” The researchers shared in a press release, “The world’s wealthiest companies’ employees love passwords that directly reference or hint at the name of a specific company. The full company name, the company’s email domain, part of the company’s name, an abbreviation of the company name, and the company product or subsidiary name are common sources of inspiration. These passwords comprise over half of the transportation and logistics list.” Jonas Karklys, NordPass’ CEO, commented, “On one hand, it is a paradox that the wealthiest companies on the planet with financial resources to invest

in cybersecurity fall into the poor password trap. On the other hand, it is only natural because internet users have deep-rooted unhealthy password habits. This research once again proves that we should all speed up in transitioning to alternative online authentication solutions.” According to IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report 2023, stolen or compromised credentials remained the most common cause of a data breach in companies in 2022, accounting for 19%. To stay on the safe side, NordPass recommends ensuring company passwords are strong by creating random combinations of at least 20 upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and special characters; enabling multifactor authentication or single sign-on; critically evaluating whom to grant account credentials; and deploying a password manager/vault.

Photo: Canva

‘NAVIGATING THE FUTURE: SAFETY FIRST!’

It will be the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) 2024 World Maritime Theme, as its Secretary-General Kitack Lim proposed at the 129 th meeting of the IMO Council. “This theme would allow us to focus on the full range of safety regulatory implications arising from new and adapted technologies and the introduction of alternative fuels, including measures to reduce GHG [greenhouse gas] emissions from ships as IMO strives to ensure the safety and efficiency of shipping are maintained, and potentially improved so that the flow of seaborne

international trade continues to be smooth and efficient,” he underscored. The Organization shared in a press release that it’s working on several safety issues, such as the goal-based Code for Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS Code) or the assessment of safety risks that come with the introduction of new technologies and alternative fuels, likewise the development of regulatory measures to address and mitigate those risks. Next year also marks the 50 th anniversary of adopting the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea.

HARBOUR MASTERS ADD WEIGHT TO A GROUP SEEKING ACTION ON CRUCIAL SAFETY ISSUES The International Harbour Masters Association (IHMA) has signed a memorandum of understanding, joining the Cargo Incident Notification System (CINS), the Confidential Human Factors Incident Reporting Programme (CHIRP), the Container Owners Association (COA), the International Cargo Handling Coordination Association (ICHCA), and the Ship Message Design Group (SMDG) in their joint work on improving safety during the global transport and handling of goods that have the potential to cause injury to the workforce and/or damage to the environment. Thanks to the MoU, the industry bodies will be better able to coordinate data and share research and

best practices across global cargo supply chains to further develop awareness throughout the freight industry amongst operators, regulators, and policymakers as to practical and effective measures to improve safety. “It is a first-class addition to have the IHMA on-side because harbour masters play a crucial role in both maritime safety and the ship-shore interface. Their leadership on navigational safety, along with an essential contribution to wider operational safety, security and environmental protection, puts them at the crossroads of the activities that the MoU partners are seeking to continuously improve,” Richard Steele, CEO of ICHCA, said while welcoming IHMA to the initiative.

UCIRC – REVISED

Bureau International des Containers (BIC), the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), and the World Shipping Council (WSC) have joined forces to update the Unified Container Inspection & Repair Criteria (UCIRC), which now includes inspection criteria for container depots and other container handover facilities to address pest contamination on and in containers. “Just as any major structural deficiencies must be repaired, any pest contaminants must be taken care of prior to the dispatch of the empty container to the shipper. The

revised UCIRC make this clear and also expressly reference the recently updated Prevention of Pest Contamination of Containers: Joint Industry Guidelines for Cleaning of Containers by BIC, COA [Container Owners Association], IICL [the Institute of International Container Lessors] and WSC. The two publications in tandem demonstrate the commitment of the container shipping industry to play a proactive role in minimizing pest contamination via the sea container pathway,” BIC, ICS, and WSC said in a press release.

5/2023 | Baltic Transport Journal | 9

For more Market Statistics Made Simple please visit: www.baltictransportjournal.com

The Port of Gothenburg:

The Port of Trelleborg:

On the other hand, the Swedish seaport’s rail container traffic contracted by 8.9% year-on-year to 234k TEUs. Whereas Gothenburg handled fewer ro-ro cargo units, down 6.1% yoy to 277k, more vehicles went through its quays, up 12.3% yoy to 137k. Liquid bulk handling lost 18.2% yoy to 9.0mt, while break- & dry bulk gained 5.3% yoy to 199kt. Ferry & cruise passenger traffic was up 18.2% on the H1 2022 result, totalling 636k travellers.

Ferries serving the Swedish seaport also brought 162,124 private vehicles, a 17.7% year-on-year increase. At the same time, 449,492 ro-ro cargo units went through Trelleborg’s quays (-2.9% yoy), including 435,811 trucks & trailers (-4.2% yoy) and 13,681 railcars (+67.9% yoy). The port also handled 644 commercial vehicles (-29.8% yoy). Trelleborg’s total cargo turnover totted up 6.6mt over this year’s first half (-3.5% yoy).

446k TEUs handled in H1 2023 (+3% yoy)

741,208 passengers served in H1 2023 (+8.2% yoy)

The Port of HaminaKotka:

455,772 TEUs handled in I-IX 2023 (-1.6% yoy) The Finnish seaports took care of 10.8mt in international traffic (-5.1% year-on-year), of which exports totalled 7.09mt (-12.6% yoy) and imports – 3.7mt (+13.3% yoy). At the same time, cabotage traffic summed up to 174.2kt (-68% yoy).

The Port of Rauma:

3.48mt handled in I-IX 2023 (+8.7% yoy) Photo: Port of Gothenburg

The Port of Södertälje:

539kt handled in H1 2023 (+1.1% yoy) Whereas the Swedish port handled fewer containers (-9.4% year-onyear to 5,520 TEUs) and ro-ro cargo units (-70.8% yoy to 76), its handling of vehicles advanced by 36.2% yoy to 40,233. Liquid bulk, Södertälje’s main cargo, totalled 206kt (-10.4% yoy). The port also took care of 136kt of forest products (+4.6% yoy), 81kt of automotive (+37.3% yoy), 52kt of containerised freight (-8.8% yoy), 46kt of dry bulk (+2.2% yoy), 16kt of break-bulk (+129% yoy), and 2.0kt of wheeled cargo (-60% yoy).

Viking Line:

2,185,843 passengers served in H1 2023 (+16.5% yoy) At the same time, the company’s fleet transported 64,872 ro-ro cargo units, an advance of 9% on the H1 2022 result.

International freight traffic advanced by 4.1% year-on-year to 3.29mt, while cabotage gained 325% yoy and totalled 192.9kt. Of the foreign traffic total, exports amounted to 2.28mt (+5.2% yoy), while imports to 1.01mt (+1.9% yoy). Rauma’s container traffic increased by 4.6% yoy to 155,062 TEUs, including 152,485 in international (+3.2% yoy) and 2,577 in domestic traffic (+556% yoy).

The Port of Norrköping:

1.87mt handled in H1 2023 (+5.5% yoy) Having increased by 25.2% year-on-year to 651kt, liquid bulk was the main driver of the Swedish seaport’s cargo traffic growth in 2023’s first half. The turnover of forest products (+6.9% yoy to 434kt), dry bulk (+9% yoy to 411kt), and breakbulk (+28.6% yoy to 9.0kt) also contributed to the positive result. On the other hand, the handling of containerised freight dropped 19.5% yoy to 359kt (45,138 TEUs, a decrease of 22% yoy). Norrköping also handled fewer steel products (-62.5% yoy to 6.0kt).

The Port of Szczecin-Świnoujście: 18.1mt handled in H1 2023 (+3.5% yoy)

Photo: Viking Line

10 | Baltic Transport Journal | 5/2023

The handling of coal advanced the most – by 60% year-on-year to 1.85mt, followed by grains (+45.3% yoy to 1.2mt) and other dry bulk goods (+35.4% yoy to 1.89mt). Liquid bulk turnover also increased – by 26.5% yoy to 4.18mt, including 2.22mt of liquefied natural gas (+10.6% yoy). Container traffic was up, too, by 4.8% yoy to 36,775 TEUs. On the other hand, general cargo (excl. timber), the ports’ leading trade, contracted by 9.4% yoy to 8.23mt, of which ferry cargo totted up 6.67mt (-10.2% yoy). Handling of wood lost 24.7% yoy to 95.6kt. Also, less iron ore was handled, down 59.1% on the H1 2022 result, totalling 650.6kt.

MARKET SMS The Port of Gdańsk: 41.2mt handled in H1 2023 (+36% yoy) The handling of liquid bulk and coal rose the most: by 60% year-on-year to 18.3mt and 117% yoy to 8.4mt, respectively. The Polish seaport also took care of more grains (+52% yoy to 1.4mt) and other dry bulk goods (+9% yoy to 1.7mt). At the same time, the turnover of general cargo (excl. timber) contracted by 6% yoy to 11mt, ore by 37% yoy to 211kt, and wood by 61% yoy to 124kt.

A total of nearly 993k TEUs (-7% yoy) went through Gdańsk’s quays, as well as 61.8k (-3.8% yoy) of various wheeled units (trucks & trailers, commercial & passenger vehicles). The Port of Gdańsk served 69k passengers (-20% yoy) over this year’s first half, including 60.6k ferry & 8.4k cruise travellers.

Photo: Port of Gdańsk

The Port of Luleå:

HHLA’s sea container terminals:

Dry bulk, the Swedish seaport’s prime trade, advanced by 3.7% yearon-year to 3.34mt. Luleå also handled 109kt of liquid bulk (+38% yoy), 77kt of steel products (-41.2% yoy), and 5.0kt of break-bulk (no handlings in H1 2022). The port didn’t see any forest products going via its quays vs 10kt over last year’s first half.

The company’s facilities in the Port of Hamburg took care of 2,763k TEUs (-12.7% year-on-year), while the ones in Odesa, Tallinn and Trieste, the remaining 113k TEUs (-43.9% yoy). The company’s intermodal division carried 819k TEUs (-3.7% yoy), including 691k by rail (-2.5% yoy) and 128k by road (-9.9% yoy).

3.53mt handled in H1 2023 (+2.9% yoy)

2,876k TEUs handled in H1 2023 (-14.6% yoy)

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5/2023 | Baltic Transport Journal | 11

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Erik Thun orders hybrid ships for cargo traffic in Lake Vänern The Dutch Shipyard Ferus Smit will deliver the 89 by 13.35 m, 1B ice class, 206k ft3 capacity freighters starting September 2024. The energy from the battery packs will be used for peak shaving and power smoothening, reducing the reliance on auxiliary engines for electricity generation – or even turning them off at anchor. The Lake Vänern Maxes will also be equipped with connectors for drawing electricity from the shore, thus shutting off all engines to lower in-port emissions, likewise cancelling noise pollution. “At the heart of the Lake Vänern Max lies a propulsion system designed for superior performance with a large diameter propeller operating within a nozzle. This configuration delivers increased thrust, particularly at lower speeds, resulting in reduced power demand during challenging seaways like Göta Älv [the Göta River] and icebreaking operations. As a result, the installed main engine power can be minimised while maintaining optimal performance and meeting the stringent requirements of ice class 1B. With the combinator mode and variable propeller, the fully automatic system constantly selects the optimal load point, maximising propeller efficiency and reducing fuel consumption,” the shipping company shared in a press release. Other measures to reduce electrical consumption aboard the Lake Vänern Maxes will be implemented, too, such as harnessing excess energy with cooling water heat exchangers in the main and auxiliary engines.

Alba Tankers chose Seaber

Helsinki’s new smart check-in gate system

The Nørresundby-headquartered Alba Tankers will use the Finnish maritime tech company’s solutions to optimise the chartering process. This, in turn, will help the company maximise fleet utilisation, hence lowering its environmental footprint. Additionally, Alba Tankers will use Seaber’s tools to estimate the impact of including the shipping sector in the European Union Emissions Trading System. Alba Tankers disposes a fleet of 20 vessels, trading petroleum products, chemicals and vegetable oils across Northern Europe and the Western Mediterranean. “As any tanker company, we aim to make sure we operate as environmentally friendly as possible. With current and emerging emission regulations, the whole planning process becomes more complex. With Seaber’s software, our team can quickly make decisions by following KPIs [key performance indicators] and compare multiple scenarios in no time,” Håkan Kalmerlind, Head of Commercial Operations at Alba Tankers, underlined.

With the help of Visy, the Finnish seaport has put in place a solution that weighs, measures, and photographs passenger cars & trucks at the West and Katajanokka harbours. The system – consisting of scannerbased preliminary vehicle identification points, automatic barriers, and display panels guiding drivers to the right lane – identifies the vehicles using a camera and automatically verifies their permits when they approach the check-in area. All vehicles are measured, while lorries are also weighed and have their condition recorded. The Port of Helsinki has received EU financial support for implementing the project, with the funds used for planning, placing the infrastructure, developing the system, and procuring & installing the required hardware.

Stellamar – launched

The company connecting Umeå and Vaasa will run its gas-powered Aurora Botnia ferry on bioLNG each Friday from 13 October 2023 until Christmas. With certified climate-neutral bioLNG from Gasum, Wasaline intends to reduce its carbon footprint further: the company shared in a press release that its 2023 emissions are already 22% lower than last year. Wasaline will cover the price spread between bioLNG and the standard version of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

AtoB@C Shipping’s second coaster in a series of 12 plug-in hybrids was launched at the Chowgule Shipyard. The 90 by 16 m, 5,350 dwt, 1A iceclass ship offering 7,650 m3 of carrying capacity joins her sister ship Electramar (due to enter traffic this autumn). Each hybrid coaster will feature a 1.0MWh battery pack and an onshore power supply (OPS) connector.

The energy stored in the batteries will be used for all-electric sailing, optimising the main engine load, or providing extra power (e.g., when cutting through thick ice). The battery packs can be charged when berthed via an OPS facility or at sea using the main engine. Works are progressing on Stellamar and Electramar’s sisters: the hull sections of Ecomar have been moved to the slipway for assembly; the steel cutting for the sixth vessel, Terramar, commenced in late June 2023, while the fifth vessel, Maximar, had its keel laid at the end of July 2023. Ultimately, a new vessel will follow every three months until all units are delivered by Q2 2026.

Green Fridays with Wasaline

Photo: Wasaline

DFDS eyes FRS Iberia/Maroc

Photo: ESL Shipping

12 | Baltic Transport Journal | 5/2023

The Danish shipping & logistics company plans to acquire the company (a division of the German FRS) that offers three ferry routes across the Strait of Gibraltar connecting Spain and Morocco. FRS Iberia/Maroc operates the Algeciras-Tanger Med (with two own ro-paxes and one chartered/shared ro-ro), Algeciras-Ceuta (two own high-speed catamarans, HSC), and TarifaTanger Ville (two HSCs, one owned and the other chartered) crossings. In 2023, a total of 2.3m freight lane metres, 1.9m passengers, and 370k cars are expected to be transported by FRS Iberia/Maroc, giving the company a market share of 28-30% (dependent on the segment). All three market parts are expected to grow 5-10% annually for the next three years, says DFDS.

WHAT’S NEW? Kaskinen to get bigger

A new Baltic cruise company in the making

The Finnish seaport will grow with a 4.5 ha storage area in preparation for handling wind turbine components. There are 36,580MW of offshore wind energy projects at different stages of development in Finland (vs 70.7MW of currently installed capacity). The port extension will also help accommodate the expected increase in cargo traffic following the set-up of the 800kt/year (fossil-free) production capacity Kaskinen folding boxboard mill by Metsä Board.

Gotland Company and Viking Line have partnered to offer intra-Baltic cruises on board the 2004-built Birka Stockholm (room for 1,800 passengers) as of spring 2024. Gotland Company purchased the laid-up cruiser in March 2023 for €38m, with Viking Line now acquiring a 50% stake for half that price. The JV will be seated in Stockholm, offering Stockholm-Mariehamn and Stockholm-Mariehamn-Visby trips (and potentially also including other Baltic seaports). As a result, Viking Line’s Viking Cinderella, cruising this year between Stockholm and Mariehamn, will move onto the Helsinki-Mariehamn-Stockholm itinerary next spring.

Green Cargo takes hold of its first Vectron The Swedish national rail freight haulier has long-term leased 10 Vectron locomotives, five apiece from Akiem and Alpha Trains, for its Sweden-Germany traffic. The plan is for all the Vectrons to run between Malmö and Maschen starting in 2024. Before the demand grows, some of the new locos will operate in southern Sweden in the region of Skåne. The first one will be initially used as a training locomotive across the Malmö-Trelleborg service. The six locomotives currently serving the Malmö-Maschen corridor will be reintegrated into Green Cargo’s Swedish network.

The Vectrons will be equipped with the European Train Control System, a condition for running them in Denmark.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

"THE BEST MAP OF THE NEW SILK ROAD! * NOT A REAL QUOTE (BUT WOULD BE IF MARCO POLO WAS HERE WITH US – SCAN THE QR CODE AND CHECK FOR YOURSELF!)

5/2023 | Baltic Transport Journal | 13

For Europe-wide maps news on ro-ro & ferry container intermodal please visit: www.europeantransportmaps.com

Finnsirius enters traffic…

Finnlines’ newest flagship ferry of the Superstar class has started sailing between Naantali and Kapellskär via the Åland Islands’ Långnäs. The ro-pax, offering room for 1,100 passengers and 5,200 lane metres for cargo, replaced Europalink (554/4,215).

Finnsirius’ sister ship, Finncanopus, will substitute Europalink’s sibling, Finnswan, next year. The 235.6 by 33.3 m 1A Super ice class new-builds feature several emissionreduction technologies, such as air lubrication, batteries, scrubbers, and waste heat recovery. They also have ballast water treatment plants. Finnsirius and Finncanopus will also take advantage of auto-mooring and draw power from the shore while berthed (thanks to the multi-million investments made by the ports in Naantali and Kapellskär).

… while Europalink is back in the southern Baltic The 2007-launched 218 by 30.5m ferry, with room for 554 passengers and 4,215 lane metres for wheeled cargo, has returned to serving its maiden route between Malmö and Travemünde. Europalink joins Finnfellow (452/2,200), Finnpartner (274/3,052) and Finntrader (274/3,052) on Finnlines’ GermanySweden link. In addition to the move, the ferry was moved from Finnish to the Swedish ship registry.

Photo: Przemysław Myszka

Victoria I – back in the Baltic Tallink & Silja Line’s ferry, providing accommodation services in Scotland from July 2022 to August 2023, is sailing between Helsinki and Tallinn again. The vessel departs from Tallinn at 12:30, arriving in Helsinki at 16:00.

The return leg starts at 18:35 and ends at 22:00. The ro-pax offers room for 2,500 passengers and 1,030 lane metres for cargo. The reintroduction of Victoria I restores the company’s daily departures between the two seaports to the pre-pandemic level of 14.

“Passenger numbers on the Tallinn-Helsinki route have shown steady growth, and customer demand is there for the cruise product to return, so I am pleased that we are able to meet that demand,” Paavo Nõgene, CEO of Tallink Grupp, commented.

14 | Baltic Transport Journal | 5/2023

Photo: Tallink Grupp/Marko Stampehl

MAP NEWS Stena Line discontinues its Hanko-Norvik ferry service…

… and Fjord Line terminates its Norway-Sweden crossing

The crossing remained operational until 20 October 2023, after which the service’s ro-paxes Urd and Stena Gothica (each offering room for 186 passengers and 1,598 lane metres for cargo) had to find new employment (either redeployed within Stena Line’s network or chartered out). “Due to the development of the current geopolitical situation, the previous volumes have been reduced, and services on the market have become saturated. As a result, the demand from Stena Lines trade customers on the route has not developed as expected,” the Swedish shipping company wrote in a press release. Stena Line also says that the Finnish government’s decision to grant an exemption from the European Union Emissions Trading System from 1 January 2024 for vessels trading via the Åland Islands will also create an uneven commercial landscape with a clear advantage for that trade lane. The Hanko-Norvik route was launched at the beginning of 2022.

As of 29 October 2023, the Norwegian shipping line no longer sails between Sandefjord and Strömstad. The service has been operated since 2014 using the Oslofjord ferry (room for 1,770 passengers and 720 lane metres for freight). The company intends to dispose of the ro-pax. Fjord Line said in a press release that it’ll focus on its crossings between Denmark and Norway: Hirtshals-Stavanger-Bergen and Hirtshals-Kristiansand. In effect, Color Line’s Color Hybrid (2,000 pax/760 lm) has remained the only one on the Sandefjord-Strömstad route.

Malmö added to X-Press Feeders’ GSX service The Swedish part of Copenhagen Malmö Port has been included in the weekly feeder loop that connects Hamburg and Bremerhaven with Malmö, Åhus, and Södertälje.

The Germany Sweden Express (GSX) is served by the 101 by 18 m, 509 TEU-capacity Anna G.

ForSea becomes Öresundslinjen Following the takeover by Molslinjen, the ferry line operating the Helsingborg-Helsingør service has been further integrated within the group. The ferry Tycho Brahe, which returned on the route on 4 October 2023 after a planned docking, is the first to fly the new livery: logo, colours, and interior. Öresundslinjen joins the group’s Alslinjen, Bornholmslinjen, Fanølinjen, Langelandslinjen, Molslinjen, and Samsølinjen. ForSea got its name in 2018 after a change from HH Ferries.

Maersk’s first methanol feeder – christened The 172m-long container ship of 2,136 TEUs capacity got the name Laura Maersk from her godmother Ursula von der Leyen, the EU Commission President, in Copenhagen. The feeder is the first in an overall 25-big order of container carriers able to run on methanol, the last of which will be delivered in 2027. Laura Maersk and the others will help Maersk reach its 2040 zero greenhouse gas emission target.

The company plans to transport at least a quarter of its ocean cargo using green fuels by 2030. Maersk has also invested in e-methanol production capacity in Spain, some 2.0mt/year. Laura Maersk serves the Rotterdam-London-Felixstowe-Gothenburg-Aarhus rotation.

Photo: Maersk

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VENTURE FORTH THE FIN-EST GREEN CORRIDOR INITIATIVE KICKS OFF • The ports of Helsinki and Tallinn, Rederi AB Eckerö, Tallink Grupp, Viking Line and Estonia’s Ministry of Climate, with support from the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications, have teamed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transport & logistics. The memorandum of understanding the parties have signed aims at making the TallinnHelsinki and Vuosaari-Muuga crossings climate-neutral for passenger and cargo traffic, on- and offshore. The initiative will put forth several

roadmaps containing milestones for different actors towards zeroemission operations. At the same time, making the Helsinki-Tallinn ‘sea bridge’ a green corridor is intended to sharpen the competitive edge of the twin-city region. The parties will conduct joint scientific studies to enhance project activities as well as increase knowledge and share that expertise. Around nine million passengers and two million vehicles are carried between Helsinki and Tallinn yearly. •

NORTHERN LIGHTS’ THIRD LIQUID CARBON DIOXIDE CARRIER – ORDERED • Dalian Shipbuilding Offshore, currently constructing the first two, was contracted to deliver the third 130m-long, 7,500m3-storage (two tanks) vessel. The trio will run on liquefied natural gas, assisted by wind propulsion. The carriers will also feature the air lubrication technology. Once operational, the ships will load captured and liquefied CO2 from industrial

emitters and transport it to the Northern Lights receiving facilities in the Norwegian Øygarden. From here, the CO2 will be stored in onshore tanks before being transported through a pipeline to an offshore reservoir for permanent storage at 2,600m under the seabed. Carbon capture and storage operations of Northern Lights are on schedule to start in 2024. •

E-TRUCK CHARGING STATION IN GÄVLE • Just next to the Swedish seaport’s main gate, a new six-charging-bay-facility will be up and running this autumn. The new 350kW maximum loading effect infrastructure is a result of a joint project between the Port of Gävle and Gävle Energi, a local energy company. The parties received support

from the Swedish Energy Agency (SEK12m/€1.0m) – under the condition that the charging station will start working as of fall 2023. Estimations say that using the e-truck charging station near the Port of Gävle will spare the environment around 4,000t of CO2-equivalent emissions over five years. •

OCEANBIRD WING 560 GETS DNV’S AIP • The class has confirmed that the rigid, tiltable sail designed by the JV of Alfa Laval and Wallenius Marine encountered no showstoppers and can be further developed toward type approval and prototype assembly. Oceanbird Wing 560 is 40m tall & 14m wide, offering 560 m2 sail area. It consists of a main sail and a flap, optimising the aerodynamic forces by creating a camber. According to

its developers, one wing sail on an existing ro-ro can, at normal speed, reduce fuel consumption from the main engine by 7-10% on favourable oceangoing routes, saving approximately 675k litres of diesel annually, which corresponds to around 1,920t/y of CO2. Next year, the first Oceanbird Wing 560 will be mounted on one of Wallenius Wilhelmsen’s ships.•

WALLENIUS WILHELMSEN’S NEW FUTURE-FIT PCTCS • The shipping line has signed a letter of intent with Jinling Shipyard (Jiangsu) to build four dual-fuel methanol/ammonia-ready pure car

& truck carriers, with an option for eight more. The first 9,350 CEUcapacity ‘Shaper Class’ vessels will start being delivered from H2 2026.•

WÄRTSILÄ TO EQUIP THE WORLD’S LARGEST ALL-ELECTRIC CATAMARAN • Incat Tasmania has selected the Finnish tech company’s battery electric propulsion system and waterjets for the 130m-long, zero-emission, lightweight vessel. The full scope of supply includes Wärtsilä’s energy management, power conversion and DC shore charging systems (and a DC hub from The Switch), 40MWh battery modules (provided by Corvus

Energy), eight electric motors, eight Wärtsilä axial flow WXJ1100 waterjets, and the ProTouch propulsion control system. Delivery of the equipment is scheduled for the latter part of 2024. The catamaran for the Uruguayan Buquebus will be delivered in 2025, offering room for 2,100 passengers and her crew plus space for 225 cars, operating between Argentina and Uruguay. •

WORLD’S FIRST METHANOL FUEL CELL TUG • With the help of Robert Allan, Svitzer will complete the design of its next-gen tug, to be deployed in H2 2025 and operate from the Port of Gothenburg. The works will now include scope considerations for vessel construction and onboard equipment selection necessary to build the vessel. The newbuild will use an electrical propulsion system with methanol fuel cells and batteries, delivering a self-sustained tug with longer endurance and fewer operational constraints than a purely battery-powered ship. Ancillary methanol-fuelled generators

will provide backup power if required without the need for a secondary fuel.

Svitzer’s calculations indicate that the methanol hybrid fuel cell tug running on green methanol would prevent emitting approximately 1.3kt of CO2 annually vs a fossil-fuel-based vessel of the same dimensions within the company’s global fleet. The Port of Gothenburg put forward operational regulations for methanol bunkering in 2022, and this year, Stena Line’s Stena Germanica became the world’s first to undergo vessel-to-a-non-tanker methanol bunkering. •

LULEÅ AND PITEÅ CHOSE GRIEG CONNECT • The two seaports from Sweden’s north have together signed a contract with Grieg Connect to digitalise their operations. Digitalisation will help them improve data exchange for better quay and resource planning. The transition 16 | Baltic Transport Journal | 5/2023

will also see the ports’ operational areas visualised with different map views and GPS points to monitor how the port infrastructure is used over time.

Additionally, work orders will be conveyed digitally, likewise back reporting. •

WHAT’S IN THE CABINET New CEF call for proposals “This call for proposals will be the largest in terms of available budget under the 2021-2027 Connecting Europe Facility. We are making available over €7 billion for projects that will support a smart and sustainable transport system, with a strong focus on cross-border projects between Member States,” underlined Adina Vălean, EU Commissioner for Transport. She furthered, “These challenging times have also reinforced the importance of having a strong transport network of railways, inland waterways and maritime routes, which will increase our industry’s competitiveness,

bring citizens closer together, and anchor Ukraine and Moldova firmly into the EU.” As such, projects bolstering the EU-Ukraine Solidarity Lanes set up to facilitate Ukraine’s exports and imports will also be eligible (for the first time, entities from Ukraine and Moldova can apply directly for EU funding with this call since the signature of the CEF Association Agreements with the two countries earlier this year). The call also covers projects improving the resilience of transport infrastructure against natural disasters.

Applicants are invited to submit their proposals by 30 January 2024.

ABS Electrification Center The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) will set up an innovation facility in Singapore to support the maritime industry’s net-zero transition.

Comprised of ABS engineers and technical specialists, the centre will support cutting-edge electrification projects for shipowners, shipyards, and other stakeholders worldwide. The ABS Electrification Center will also engage in research & development, design review, and rule development. John McDonald, ABS President and Chief Operating Officer, highlighted, “While many in the shipping industry will be equipped to use alternative fuels, additional alternative energy options, particularly electrification, are needed to help the industry achieve net zero by 2050. ABS is proud to invest in this new center and use our

deep industry knowledge to enable research to improve emerging battery technologies, fuel cells and shore power connection technologies to understand the risks of electrified vessels and to support infrastructure planning as ports become increasingly electrified and connected.” ABS is already working on several advanced electrification initiatives, including Seatrium’s Floating Living Lab project and its proposals for a battery-powered fleet of hybrid tugs.

The US class is also supporting Wärtsilä in designing a hybrid electric LNG carrier, working with Greenbay Marine and Sea Forrest on a fully electric container vessel, and assisting PSA Marine in evaluating the energy efficiency of a new hybrid design for pilot launch boats.

Photo: Anders Ebefeldt/Öresundslinjen

Guidelines for Fuel Cell Power Systems On Board Ships – 2nd edition published ClassNK has released its updated safety provisions related to the design of vessels powered by fuel cells as well as fuel cell power systems themselves. “Fuel cells are power systems that use electrical energy obtained from the chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen. Notably, they do not emit CO2 during electricity generation, positioning them as a potential solution to help reduce GHG [greenhouse gas] emissions from shipping,” said the Japanese class in a press release. The 2nd edition outlines the latest safety measures for installing fuel cell power in vessels, including design principles for related

equipment, fire safety, electrical systems, control, monitoring, and safety systems. The Guidelines also set out requirements for a class notation for vessels that meet these provisions. Moreover, an annex detailing the examination requirements for fuel cell power systems, based on relevant International Electrotechnical Commission standards and regulations, has been added. ClassNK also noted that discussions are underway at the International Maritime Organization to amend the International Code of Safety for Ships Using Gases or Other LowFlashpoint Fuels (IGF Code) to include provisions specific to fuel cells.

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CHART OF THE ISSUE

18 | Baltic Transport Journal | 5/2023

BTJ Trip 2023 \ Naantali

Compact but capacious & versatile

by Przemysław Myszka The autumn season of our port trips began with visiting the Finnish Naantali (coupled with partaking in Finnlines’ launch of its spanking-new Superstar ferry Finnsirius across the Naantali-Kapellskär crossing via Långnäs). Whereas the EU TEN-T Core Port and its charming, easy-to-fall-in-love-with town are pretty compact, plenty of various cargo activities are taking place throughout its quays. Naantali took care of 4.42 million tonnes in 2022, including 2.29mt of general cargo (1.96mt wheeled, some 143k ro-ro cargo units, and 328kt break-bulk) and 1.47mt of liquid and 663kt of dry bulk, respectively.

Naantali is also home to vibrant passenger traffic: 207k ferry travellers were welcomed last year.

Interestingly, though the sister ships Finnswan and Europalink (up-to-date serving the Naantali-Långnäs-Kapellskär link) offered room for passengers (554 apiece, plus 4,215 lane metres for cargo), Finnsirius comes across as a true cruise ferry (1,100 pax/5,200 lm), a concept perhaps new to Finnlines whose operations have always been more clustered around freight. “Finnsirius is Finnlines’ new ecoefficient flagship, designed specifically for the fast-paced freight transport route between Finland and Sweden. At the same time, Finnsirius offers upgraded services and more travel comfort than the previous generation of ro-pax vessels. Freight is Finnlines’ core business, but it is a genuine pleasure to introduce our new service concept to our passengers,” commented Antonio Raimo, Line Manager at Finnlines, on the ferry’s name-giving day of 13 September 2023 in Naantali (with Tiina Ahola, representing the Ahola Group, serving as the vessel’s godmother). On the whole, when Finnsirius’ sibling Finncanopus replaces Finnswan

Photos: Port of Naantali

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ith its recent investments (€6.5m, including €1.8m from the EU) in upgrading the ferry quay for Finnlines’ traffic (with new ramps, onshore power supply from Hitachi, Cavotec’s latest generation auto-mooring technology – the biggest the company has thus far delivered – and larger asphalted truck parking area), Naantali has further strengthened its vital role of serving Finland’s trade with Sweden, not least the security of supply to the Åland Islands. The coronavirus pandemic more than underscored the latter when, for a couple of weeks, it was only Finnlines trafficking with Sweden (while Lillgaard continued shipping from Naantali to the Åland Islands; the port usually serves around four-fifths of Åland traffic).

Overall, the seaport and Finnlines more than highlighted their position over these full of disruption years – as other ferry lines scrambled to control damage by downgrading their networks, the two remained dedicated to keeping the flows running with, among others, medical supplies.

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Photo: Xxx

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Photo: Green North Energy

at the beginning of 2024, the route’s passenger carrying capacity will nearly double from 1,108 to 2,200, while the cargo one will increase from 9,210 to 11,180 lm (including Lillgaard’s 780 lm Fjärdvägen that plies to & from Långnäs).

I also had the chance to visit the currently under-reconstruction ferry passenger building (originally from 1974, but one couldn’t tell that by looking at the already refreshed facade).

The ground floor for serving footed travellers is ready. At the same time, the other premises, including a new seat of the port authority – naturally, with a sauna on the roof! – are slated for completion in spring 2024. The Port of Naantali has invested in geothermal energy to heat and cool the building. Counting the money spent on modernising the passenger facilities, Naantali’s ferry investment totalled some €10m over the last three years.

Overall, the Finnish seaport aims to noticeably increase its cargo and passenger traffic share between Finland and Sweden.

As Tom Pippingsköld, President and CEO of Finnlines, said during the Finnsirius reception, their investments prove their dedication is not for the next two or three years but decades.

The same holds for the port, with its timely and well-executed investments facilitating the line’s tonnage renewal.

Out with the old, in with the new Having mentioned energy, here, too, some profound changes have taken place in Naantali

– and even more will happen before long.

The port houses a combined power plant, supplying some 85-90% of the Turku region (over 362k inhabitants, making it Finland’s third largest sub-regions of 69 in total) with electricity and heat (the latter is transferred to the nearby cities by a district heating tunnel, one of the longest in Europe). The facility, operated by TSE, also produces steam for industrial customers.

The new multi-fuel plant was inaugurated in 2017 to move away from coal towards biomass.

Such a shift translates into more cargo going via the Port of Naantali since it takes three times more biomass by weight to produce the same energy output (up to seven times more volume-wise). Back in 2019, Clean Electricity Generation and TSE announced a successful logistics, handling, and combustion trial of over 1.0kt of CEG Renewable Black Pellets, produced in Derby from sustainably sourced biomass, shipped to Naantali, and used at its power plant as a drop-in substitute for fossil coal in co-firing.

In the past, Naantali used to handle much more liquid bulk thanks to the nowdecommissioned refinery of Neste. That said, Green North Energy (GNE) intends to breathe new life into the premises by erecting its first green hydrogen and ammonia plant at the expense of €580m (primarily focusing on further refining hydrogen into green ammonia).

Production at the 280MW-strong plant is planned to start in 2026. In mid-May 2023, the company shared that an environmental

Photo: Przemysław Myszka

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Photos: Przemysław Myszka

impact assessment had been initiated. “The production will operate within a closed process, so the biggest impact will be any heat generated in the process that cannot be used in the district heating network,” GNE said in a press release. The investor also underlined, “The evaluation is being conducted at the Luolala plant site, where Green North Energy is looking at different options for the location of the new plant. The main production infrastructure already exists at the site, which also offers excellent logistical connections and the possibility to use waste heat in the City of Turku’s district heating network.” UlfErik Widd, Account Lead at Business Finland, an organisation that gave GNE €2.8m in R&D funding at the end of 2022, commented on the project, “Green North Energy is a great example of the versatile use of the hydrogen economy. At Business Finland, we want to promote similar projects in Finland and create a foundation for international growth in this fast-growing market.” Also last year, GNE, Meriaura, and Wärtsilä signed a letter of intent to build a project cargo vessel that runs on ammonia produced using renewable electricity. The newbuild will be ordered and operated by Meriaura, Wärtsilä will provide the modular multi-fuel main engines, and GNE will supply the fuel. The parties target next year for delivering the ship, with 2026 planned for starting green ammonia operations. Apart from that, a feasibility study is underway for a bio-ethanol production site in Naantali.

“Our targets are higher” Speaking of energy in another form and for different use, the seaport is also home to Finland’s biggest silo (over 300k m3 of capacity/270kt), which translates to making Naantali the country’s largest grain port 22 | Baltic Transport Journal | 5/2023

(because of the Russian war, the volumes have dropped as much wheat from Russia used to transit through the grain terminal). Indeed, the complex, run by Suomen Viljava since 1959, is enormous and a real treat for any photographer who resonates with the industrial chic vibe!

Naantali is also Finland’s biggest cement import port, with one-sixth of the volume passing the dedicated silos (almost 160kt last year) brought in by SCHWENK Finland. Early this year, Stevena announced it doubled the capacity of its cement terminal in Naantali

BTJ TRIP to 10k m 3. The new silo also allows for importing completely new types of cement (apart from the high-quality CE-marked CEM I 52.5 N Portland).

Stevena also operates in Naantali’s Luonnonmaa Harbour, situated on a bridgeconnected island vis-a-vis the port’s core part.

There, the stevedore warehouses a wide range of recycled products, e.g. crushed and foam glass (the latter made from recycled glass and used as a substitute for light expanded clay aggregates, likewise as insulation for the base floor of a house) and bulk goods (among others, plastic granules). Foam glass is shipped from Naantali to export markets, such as England.

The Turku Repair Yard is also located on Luonnonmaa and has been busy attending to one of Tallink & Silja Line’s ferries during my visit.

One particular thing stood out when cruising the Luonnonmaa Harbour, namely a single Norsepower Rotor Sail. As it happens, Turku Repair Yard has acted as a testing site for the modern version of the Flettner auxiliary wind propulsion. The port authority has development plans for the island, wanting to modernise its cargo handling capacity significantly.

A couple of other players are also taking advantage of the Port of Naantali. Finnfeeds Finland, part of the International Flavors and Fragrances Group, has a factory that produces betaine, which is found in many cosmetic products. Not so long ago, the company started using a 10MW bio-boiler (running on wood-based biofuels) to slash its CO2 footprint (by 2.0-3.0kt/year). Together with the previously implemented Adven evaporation service, the annual total reduction in carbon emissions is approximately 19kt (over 100m km driven by passenger cars).

Another company is Exxon Mobil Finland, producing lubricants from 1957 under the Mobil and Esso trademarks. Some 100 different product qualities are mixed at the Naantali plant, and the selection includes around 900 product packaging combinations. Operations at the factory include mixing, filling, laboratory studies, storage, as well as deliveries. However, like grain operations, Exxon Mobil Finland’s operations in Naantali have been negatively impacted by the Russian war, as Russia was the largest export market for the plant’s output.

While driving around the port, one could also see one of Ahola Transport’s warehouses. Apart from the fact that the family-owned company feeds a lot of Naantali’s wheeled cargo traffic, it also goes the extra mile to walk the green talk. In the port’s publication Towards Sustainability Together, the haulier shared that it reduced its CO2 emissions by 62% in 2021 (vs. 2005).

“A kilometre not driven is, of course, the most ecological option, and that’s why we aim at making our operations as effective as possible

by driving as few unnecessary kilometres as possible with as high a filling rate as possible.

That also has a positive effect on profitability,” said Åke Nyblom, Business Director of Ahola Transport. Another and maybe a less intuitive way to improve one’s green credentials was setting up a unique washing station for heavy vehicles in the company’s Naantali transport hub in autumn 2021. The facility features a closed-water circulation system. The recycling rate is 85-90% of the 2,000 litres needed to clean one articulated vehicle (remarkably, 5% is lost due to water going out with the truck & trailer).

New water is only used for final rinsing to keep the vehicles shining white.

As shown during a presentation by the more than lovely hosts – Hannu Kallio, the Port of Naantali’s Operations Manager, Tarja Siekkinen, Communications Specialist, and Yrjö Vainiala, Port Director, Chief Operating Officer & Commercial Director – the Port of Naantali itself does a lot to axe the mark it leaves on the environment. The primary tool is procuring green energy, making it possible to lower emissions even though consumption might be rising. The investment

in cold ironing will also help slash shippingcaused emissions (apart from that, the Superstarclass ferries feature batteries for zero-emission port operations). Auto-mooring, though not directly, also helps to spare the environment.

Because it takes five times less time to moor with Cavotec’s MoorMaster NxG, while clawing off is almost instant, vessels can reduce their sailing speed without compromising the timetable (the Port of Kapellskär has also invested in such equipment). The Port of Naantali also invested in a sustainable LED lighting system a few years ago and in a wastewater reception system for vessels (connected to the municipal sewage network).

“We are constantly developing our operations to be more environmentally friendly.

All parts of the port have environmental permits that control operations. While the permits set a minimum level for the operations, our targets are higher,” highlighted Vainiala. He furthered, “Shipping and port operations have an impact on the environment, but together with our partners, we are constantly developing our operations to be more environmentally friendly.”

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BTJ Trip 2023 \ Kaskinen

Catching fair wind

by Przemysław Opłocki I started this year’s second part of my BTJ Trip to the Finnish ports in mid-September. Off to the north of the Baltic, to Kaskinen! An early morning flight from Gdańsk to Vaasa, with a stopover in Stockholm Arlanda – check. A bus journey from Vaasa to Närpes – check. The last part, also by bus, to Kaskinen – check.

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t the border of Närpes, I saw several dozen small wooden buildings near a church. The proximity to the temple suggested that those could have been tombs, but the reality turned out much less mystical. Those rows of red, windowless buildings (around 150) were stables used in the old days for housing horses and protecting sleighs and buggies during church service.

Kaskinen welcomed me in a very much autumn and ‘touristless’ shape. Still, even those conditions wouldn’t change an excellent impression of a charming town where wooden buildings dominate, with straight and long streets separating them. I stayed in one of those cosy houses and prepared for the next busy day.

The town is also a municipality (with 1,217 inhabitants, the smallest in Finland with a town status) and an island. Founded in 1785 by King Gustav III of Sweden, the Kaskinen harbours have been essential to the local economy.

Friendly welcome After a windy and cloudy afternoon, Tuesday’s weather seemed more friendly for the BTJ visit to the Port of Kaskinen, where I met with its CEO (and our journal’s good friend), Patrik Hellman.

The Port of Kaskinen is located on the western coast of Finland, in the Gulf of Bothnia, approximately 100 kilometres north of Pori, between the ports and cities of Vaasa and Kristinestad. It is one of the most important Finnish exporting ports for sawn timber and pulp, and it also specialises in handling wind components, chemical industry products, and various bulk cargoes.

Kaskinen handles approximately 1.3 million tonnes of goods annually (around 15kt/day).

The sheltered port rarely requires icebreaker assistance in the wintertime. The open sea and shipping routes of the Baltic can be accessed easily from the deep-water port. Kaskinen is one of the Trans-European Transport Network’s (TEN-T) Comprehensive Ports. The most 24 | Baltic Transport Journal | 5/2023

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important nearby customers of the port are the Metsä Board chemo-thermomechanical pulp mill in Kaskinen, Lunawood, and Aureskosken Processing Company.

Bustling with activity – and only more will come!

Photo: Przemysław Opłocki

We started this BTJ Trip by visiting Metsä Board Kaskinen. The current factory was founded in 2006, producing bleached chemothermomechanical pulp. There are also facilities from the previous Metsä Bothnia factory, which closed in 2009 but is still in use. There are around 90 employees in the facility, but in the past, as many as 250-300 had been employed there.

The annual production is around 400kt of pulp, which goes out for export from the Port of Kaskinen, mostly to Husum in Sweden, just across the Bay of Bothnia, and the rest to the

Netherlands and Italy. Next on the schedule was a visit to the Outer Port (four hectares big), built when the in-town part of the port became too small. It has a bulk berth (100 m long, 7.2 m deep), a warehouse (9,000 m2), and a storage area dedicated to, among others, windmill components.

Let us begin a brief journey through the main port that spans over 38 ha. Some facts: 9.0 m deep fairway; 270/350 m turning basis (inside/outside); seven berths for lo-lo/bulk vessels, two for ro-ros, and one for tankers; 45k dwt max ship size; 38k m2 of storage for general cargo, 15k m2 roofed and 53.5k m2 open for dry bulk, and 49k m3 for liquid bulk.

The port’s machinery includes six cranes, four reachstackers, ten forklifts, six front loaders, and three conveyor belts.

The port is divided into zones according to the material to be handled by selected operators: BB Logistics (bulk cargo, loose material, and general cargo, including windmill components), Wibax Tank (liquids), Cewal Grains (fertilisers, fodder, grains), Revisol (recyclable materials), and Silva Shipping (forest products). They offer a vast selection of high-quality services, like loading and unloading goods, moving between different modes of transport, and warehousing.

The biggest port operator is Silva Shipping, dedicated to the forest industry (handling cargo from Metsä), with four warehouses totalling 38k m2. In the future, there are plans to build one big place for storing goods in place of the existing ones. Such a building would be closer to the quay, automated, and with a more extensive area – around 5.0 ha.

There is also a significant investment under construction, a brand-new port area of 4.5 ha dedicated to taking care of windmill components; there are plans for handling parts for at least 350 turbines in the port during the 2023-28 period. There are 36,580MW of offshore wind energy projects at different stages of development in Finland (vs 70.7MW of currently installed capacity). In other words, plenty of future work for Kaskinen.

Other things in the pipeline: building a new ro-ro ramp (dedicated to European traffic) and a railway connecting the port with the new under-construction 800kt/year (fossil-free) production capacity Kaskinen folding boxboard mill by Metsä Board (1.5 km long – it will be the largest single building in Finland). The port’s investment portfolio tots up to some €45m.

During the BTJ Trip, I also had an opportunity to meet with representatives from our long-term partners, BB Logistics. Kim Lindström and Olli Rantala gave me a brief overview of the situation in the company, presenting their terminals (including the new location in the Port of Loviisa) and cooperation with the windmill industry.

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BTJ Trip 2023 \ Kaskinen: interview with Patrik Hellman, CEO, the Port of Kaskinen

A waiting game

by Przemysław Opłocki During my recent visit to Finland, I had the opportunity to speak with the Port of Kaskinen’s Patrik Hellman on a number of issues, including the impact of the Russian war on the seaport business, how to prepare ports to best partake in the multifaceted green transition, and how to attract skilled people to work in an industry that is not necessarily in the foreground of the public eye. We topped the interview by spotlighting what could instantly push the (billions euro-heavy) needle.

What is the state of the Finnish port business in general and that of Kaskinen in particular well into 2023?

Exports and imports going via the country’s harbours are down 7% vs the first seven months of 2022, with the former alone contracting by 14% year-on-year. The Russian aggression against Ukraine, coupled with the not-so-rosy situation in the forest sector, brought about a much more dramatic impact on Kaskinen’s cargo traffic, which lost some 43% yoy.

The fall in volumes started immediately after the war broke out: Metsä Fibre decided to stop all the fibre wood imports from the Baltic States. The company’s factory in the Swedish Husum, just a stone’s throw across the Bothnian Bay, used to get all its fibre from Russia. As such, alternative imports shifted from Kaskinen to Husum. At the same time, their facility in our town began getting its raw materials by rail from the Finnish domestic market. That is maybe a favourable development for the railwaymen – but at the expense of 400 thousand tonnes within two years for us. The situation won’t change in the coming months, and one can also voice scepticism about whether 2024 will bring any prominent shift for the better, at least in this market segment. Also, inflation is still pretty high in Finland (about 5%) and even more nagging in the rest of Europe.

That said, we are fortunate enough to serve other trades – most notably windmill components but also dry bulk – that compensate for the losses money-wise. As such, we are forging ahead with our investment in a 4.5 hectare storage area in preparation for handling turbine components for the wind energy business. The port extension will also help accommodate the expected increase in freight flows following the much anticipated (but yet to be decided) set-up of the 800kt/year (fossil-free) production capacity Kaskinen folding boxboard mill

by Metsä Board. Should the decision be made next year, the factory could be ready in late 2026 – and we, as a seaport, will be prepared to serve them. Atop that, we are 26 | Baltic Transport Journal | 5/2023

also thinking about deepening the quay in question from 9.0 to 11-12 metres.

The investment budget for that specific part of the Port of Kaskinen tots up to approximately €10-20 million. Taken altogether, as much other work along this 500-600 m quay wall will be done, too, we are speaking about €40-45m on the table. Once upgrading this part of the port is done and dusted, we’ll have the top-notch means of catering to various needs – be it project cargo, breakand dry bulk, or unitised freight. It will be a smart, versatile investment.

Is there a discussion in Finland about shifting towards more renewable energy sources – and which ones would these be? How does the ‘portpiece’ fit into this puzzle?

There are at least two driving forces behind today’s discussion about the future energy landscape. The Russian war against Ukraine has impressed the urgency of becoming more self-sufficient on the EU, which means going green as the block’s own fossil fuel supply is nowhere near its demand.

Second, there’s the internal push from EU and national regulators, something that I believe is needed but should also be more marketdriven. Not so long ago, the debate revolved around scrubbers and liquefied natural gas (LNG); now, there’s bioLNG and other bioand synthetic fuels, along with (green/blue/ grey) hydrogen, ammonia, methanol, hybrid, batteries, electricity – you name it! It is all new, shiny and exciting – and especially the cost of next-gen fuel investments can get one’s heart pumping a lot faster if you’re a smaller harbour that really needs to count the pennies. Having your fingers in all these pies isn’t economically viable. The same holds for shipowners: no one will invest in a fleet that runs on different energy carriers.

The mandate to invest and plug into onshore power supply may also appear a bit draconian. These facilities aren’t cheap to start with – while retrofitting older tonnage with cold ironing connectors doesn’t seem to make a sound business case. And it’s not that ports

are in the position to rush shipping lines with a stick to draw power from the shore.

Kaskinen has placed its bet on wind energy – a pie so big that several seaports in Finland will be ‘stuffed’ catering to the sector’s needs.

No harbour can all by itself handle all those wind farms, especially offshore. That’s why we are making a roadmap with the ports of Vaasa and Pietarsaari, as well as the Regional Council of Ostrobothnia, which is driving this initiative, to find a way to deftly deal with these massive projects. We might want a separate port just for maintenance, another for building, while the third would be something in-between or serve as a storage area. We have to be prepared as diligently as possible since windmill components are constantly increasing, driving up the handling demands ports must meet.

We want to be a trusted partner when the first offshore wind farm project comes out of the starting block in five or six years. The longterm intention is to create a whole cluster of local wind energy expertise, blue- and whitecollar alike since it won’t make much sense to constantly ‘import’ people from Belgium or Denmark to ‘do’ our wind farms, particularly for operations and maintenance.

Our seaport will also green its nature. Doing that will include providing ships with the opportunity to cold iron to lower in-port emissions caused by shipping, generating our own electricity by harvesting solar and/or wind energy, and electrifying the machinery.

Digitalisation also promises to make operations more (eco)efficient. The Finnish cabinet does a lot through Fintraffic’s projects like the maritime single window system NEMO or the vessel traffic system.

Since the autumn of 2020, we have been working with the Norwegian tech firm Grieg Connect to build the seaport’s digital future.

The agreement comprises a cloud-based port management system and an advanced port call module. The former has an option for a gate flow system, a terminal operating system, and a digital twin. By digitalising, we want to streamline our operations so as to cut costs and emissions, as well as to connect all of our clients to the system. The war has put a break on this development.

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Photo: Przemysław Opłocki

Yet, when we get the traffic, thus data, going more strongly again in a year or so, we’ll have the system busy.

Probably the best thing about such modern tools is that they make it easier to connect the dots – what works and earns the most depending on the ship, cargo, the land side of the traffic, and more. For example, our board of directors and even I are surprised at how big of a positive effect project cargo has on our bottom line.

Speaking about people – how difficult (or maybe easy) it is to get new employees on board?

Sadly, we had to let go of people in the aftermath of the negative impact of the Russian war on our business. I know it won’t be easy to get them back. In less densely populated areas of Finland, such as ours, it’s often a family issue. One parent might land employment, but the other not necessarily, which means financial struggle, especially if you have children. Bigger settlements have it, therefore, easier.

That said, it’s hard to find skilled workers all over Finland. Let’s assume for the sake of the argument that the expected offshore wind energy boom materialises, likewise the spanking-new factory of Metsä Board.

In this instance, ‘head hunters’ will have to travel the country far and wide to fill the posts. The Port of Kaskinen has been making itself visible to the public eye for quite a long time, and we hope to capitalise on that come better times.

Another challenge is that you cannot discover ‘how to do port work’ by reading. As such, nothing beats learning the ropes by being on a quay and ‘smelling’ the operations together with the salty air. Don’t get me wrong, the academia would actually more than like to carry out specific port education, but there’s nobody to educate! I don’t think many people know what a port does.

When we had open-door days in the Port of Kaskinen, hundreds of people visited us, and they were amazed. “Well, we knew we had a port, but not like this!” they exclaimed. The transport and logistics sector must do more to hammer that message home.

Similarly, other heavy-duty industries should. The neighbouring Kristinestad is considering producing hydrogen with green electricity and having a green steel factory. Such investments, even if highly

digitalised or automated, will also create demand in the labour market. If not yesterday, then tomorrow at the latest, the industry has to entice those entering today the first-year classes. The industries get volumes into ports and, hopefully, a skilled labour force as a spin-off effect.

Another tricky thing is that ports, even if they seem to be lookalikes, can profoundly differ in how they operate. So, it’s not only training to work in a port from a newbie’s perspective but to crunch the specifics of operations in, say, Kaskinen, Vaasa, or Pietarsaari.

Efficiency always comes with a certain port name attached to it.

Granted godlike powers, what would you immediately change in how ports or maybe the environment they operate in?

Getting rid of the red tape! Obtaining permits isn’t a marathon; it’s not even an ultramarathon – it can be a full-blown triathlon…

The path towards building this, extending that, dredging, etc., is cumbersome, and one risks getting flooded by the paperwork. This bumbledom keeps the whole of Finland back, not only the port business.

International multi-million investments are at stake, so please hurry up!

Photos: Port of Kaskinen

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BTJ Trip 2023 \ Helsinki: interview with Vesa Marttinen, VP Cargo, and Nina Liljeqvist, Marketing Manager, the Port of Helsinki

A lesson in agility

by Przemysław Myszka My second Finnish autumn 2023 BTJ Trip took me to Finland’s capital, where I had the chance to speak with the Port of Helsinki’s Vesa Marttinen and Nina Liljeqvist. We talked about the port’s performance this and last year, its newest development programme and what changes it’ll bring about for its numerous harbours. We also put the spotlight on the environmental and social aspects of sustainability as well as looked at what the port does digitalisation-wise.

How do you assess 2022 and the first three quarters of this year? What is your outlook?

With a new all-time high of 15.15mt handled last year, a year-on-year increase of 4.7%, Helsinki is Finland’s leading port for international trade. The import/export ratio is almost evenly split, which, among others, spares our customers the empty container repositioning headache/added cost.

Taking care of general cargo constitutes the bulk of our freight operations: we handled 13.59mt in 2022, making us the Baltic’s 6th busiest port. Out of that, unitised freight tots up to 12.57mt (5th), consisting of 8.8mt of wheeled cargo (4th) and 3.77mt of containerised freight (9th). Unit-wise, we are the region’s third-biggest regarding trucks & trailers (over 702k last year) and the 8th for handling containers (almost 492k TEUs).

Not so long ago, we started welcoming Finnlines’ Finneco ro-ros of 5,800 lane metres (lm) capacity, over 2,500 lm above the average for the Baltic. And while we’re not Gdańsk or Klaipėda in terms of oceangoing container traffic, we nonetheless serve Maersk’s Vistula-class feeders: 3,600 TEUs vs. the region’s 1,192 average.

Being the capital port, with the City of Helsinki alone accounting for 12% of the country’s population, is certainly advantageous for imports, and it is no wonder that consumer goods and foodstuff top the list in that regard. In the meantime, many export businesses from all over Finland channel their flows through our harbours, chiefly the forest, machinery and tech industries. While the city harbours exclusively serve wheeled traffic and Vuosaari also takes care of containers, we have run the port in Loviisa since 2017, handling dry bulk, break-bulk and project cargo there. Among others, the biomass for Helsinki’s power plants goes via Loviisa. The port also houses what’s probably Finland’s second-biggest grain facility, crucial for the country’s food supply security. We shouldn’t forget about the Port of Kantvik, where we 28 | Baltic Transport Journal | 5/2023

manage one of the harbours. It is leased to Kantvik Shipping, which handles dry bulk goods like sugar, cement and coal.

The passenger side of our business is still recovering from the coronavirus pandemic.

Whereas before it, we were Europe’s biggest, with 11m ferry & cruise travellers going through our quays, we welcomed nearly 8.0m in 2022, a smaller figure that nevertheless made us the most trafficked in the Baltic Sea. Unfortunately for the lines calling our passenger harbours, COVID-19 stripped the Helsinki Airport of its Asiaserving hub function.

As things stand today, at the end of September 2023, we’re experiencing the opposite of what we did during the pandemic: cargo traffic is contracting while that of passengers is advancing. The freight downtick can be attributed to the currently not-so-rosy economic climate: less purchasing power, internal and abroad, translates into smaller import and export volumes (around -12% year-on-year in January-August 2023). Among other things, Finland isn’t a big construction site, which undermines imports. But that also means less demand for Finnish timber in foreign markets. Then again, Helsinki isn’t a transit seaport, meaning that the Russian war had a minor impact on our operations.

There were services to St. Petersburg and Ust-Luga in the past, but their discontinuation didn’t make a dent in our volumes (and certainly not in passenger traffic). All in all, we’re looking at what will likely be a tough autumn and a bumpy start to 2024.

At the same time, there have recently been some interesting developments that diversified our operations. Hernesaari, our dedicated cruise quay, has also started serving NATO visiting vessels, while NATO-related cargo is rolling into Vuosaari. Finland’s accession to the Organization has resulted in military exercises on our turf, regular events that naturally cannot go without proper logistics.

How will the Port of Helsinki change following its newest strategy?

Indeed, it seems that our seaport is constantly evolving. The Vuosaari Harbour went online barely 15 years ago, taking over container operations from the West Harbour. Next, traffic to Sweden used to be our busiest, but it got overtaken by the one to Estonia (e.g., it was 6.32m vs. 1.4m passengers last year). Furthermore, nobody expected the overall ferry traffic to stretch thin the provided capacity so fast, especially its cargo part (particularly the flows that go via the city harbours).

The location is undoubtedly one of our sharpest competitive edges, but it also creates specific challenges. The ferry harbours are located in the city centre, meaning we cannot enlarge our operations just like that.

Of course, digitalisation comes in handy, notably a traffic management system that helps us streamline the flow of trucks. That said, more profound changes are ahead of us.

In early 2021, the Helsinki City Board made a decision in principle concerning rearrangements of port operations for the South, Katajanokka and West harbours.

As a result, the port inked a new strategy in 2022, according to which ship traffic to Tallinn and Stockholm will be centralised at the West Harbour and Katajanokka, respectively, and a harbour tunnel (away from street level) will be built for vehicle traffic from West Harbour to the Länsiväylä Western Highway. Today, passenger traffic to and from Tallinn takes place at Katajanokka and the West Harbour and Stockholm traffic at the South Harbour and Katajanokka.

The move will open up public space in the South Harbour, including for building the Architecture and Design Museum. Tallinn traffic will be centralised at the West Harbour around 2028. The place will also get a new West Terminal 1 (T1); the quay and marshalling areas will be expanded.

After the changes have been started in the West Harbour, also Katajanokka will receive the needed berth & terminal updates. In 2024-2026, a new modern ship terminal in Katajanokka will replace the current one.

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Photos: Przemysław Myszka

The plan is for the harbour to become a hub for land and sea traffic with Sweden by the 2030s (and smaller cruise ships for good measure).

The Makasiini Terminal in the South Harbour is already under demolishment. We will also hand over the Olympia Terminal and Harbour House to the City of Helsinki for other than port use. From 2030, the South Harbour will serve cruise traffic (and maybe high-speed ferries).

Though relatively new, Vuosaari will be further developed starting in 2028. The harbour will grow by approximately six hectares by the means of sea reclamation. Three ro-ro berths will be erected there. This project will be interesting also because it will require bringing back to life an old fairway. Whereas Vuosaari now handles a couple of freight trains per day, we would also like to see intermodal going in and out regularly. How to

get containers and trailers on rails has been a recurring discussion in Finland. Let us hope it won’t end up as it always did: with no intermodal trains crossing the country eventually.

Cargo owners that increasingly pay attention to lowering their scope three emissions may be what tips the demand scale this time. In other words, freight forwarders might be pressured to come up with an intermodal solution before long. However, road hauliers probably won’t sit idle, slashing their carbon footprint by investing in green(er) trucks – hybrid, electric, or whatever else the future brings. In the meantime, Vuosaari’s road connection is already second to none and will only get better. Also, we have lately commissioned a double ramp to improve serving the traffic with Tallinn’s Muuga Harbour.

In a sense, the port and its city are projects in the making. The tricky part is how to satisfy

the needs of one without compromising those of the other. Fortunately, there is room for both of us to manoeuvre collision-free.

Meanwhile, we are executing the fifth edition (2021-2025) of the EU-backed TWINPORT project with our friends from the Port of Tallinn. The total investment cost of the initiative is around €8.0m for us, of which the funding granted is approximately €4.0m. Our TWIN-PORT efforts will, this time, go towards the development programme: the plans and surveys required for the tunnel, as well as the new T1 and berth redesigning at the West Harbour. Partial funding will also be granted for researching the construction of a carbonnegative terminal. In Tallinn, funding will be provided for the ramp and sewage projects in Muuga, the plans and surveys required by the new Terminal A in Tallinn, and the smart port gate system upgrade in Muuga and Old

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BTJ TRIP City Harbours. Regarding our neighbours, we’re also monitoring the development of Rail Baltica, assessing how this project might change the flows, primarily of cargo.

How are you partaking in the green transition?

We want our operations to be carbon-neutral by 2035. We will achieve that by cutting the consumption (e.g., by installing LED lighting) and procuring green energy for what we need. Luckily, cogeneration in Helsinki is moving away from coal in favour of biomass.

Offsetting is also an option.

However, the bulk of the shared responsibility of making the entire Port of Helsinki environmentally friendly rests on the shoulders of our clients. That, naturally, doesn’t mean we won’t help them – quite the contrary! On land, we encourage stevedores to shift onto greener equipment, perhaps also installing a photovoltaic system atop a warehouse. On the seaside, we provide incentives for shipping lines that care for the environment with their green tonnage. Between the two, we offer onshore power supply, which, according to our conservative calculations, reduces vessel CO2 emissions by 50-80% (not to mention noise pollution, especially generated by ships that stay overnight), and auto-mooring that enables slower steaming en route

30 | Baltic Transport Journal | 5/2023

to and from Helsinki. Our seaport was the first in the Northern Baltic to invest in such technology and most likely the second in the region overall. Since then, we have welcomed many guests inquiring about the solution, which, as it happens, is becoming more and more popular in the Baltic Sea. Our plans include fitting Vuosaari with auto-mooring.

We as a port will focus on supporting efficient logistics and won’t morph into some energy expert – even though we do produce energy for our own use as well as sell and distribute electricity purchased from power companies.

Yet, we’ll be more than obliged to connect the dots between producers and consumers, say a power plant operator that sits just next to Vuosaari with one of the harbour’s stevedores: two players that might consider working together on, e.g., hydrogen. We see ourselves as facilitators in such instances – and ones who do not fly solo.

And how are you tapping into the socalled digital revolution?

There are applications that ease passenger traffic (as missing a ferry can ruin anybody’s day!) and a smart check-in gate system developed by Visy that weighs, measures, and photographs passenger cars & trucks at the West and Katajanokka harbours. We have received

EU financial support for implementing the project, with the funds used for planning, placing the infrastructure, developing the system, and procuring and installing the required hardware.

We are also partaking in various tests, e.g., of machine vision (a technology used to provide imaging-based automatic inspection and analysis) or drones (for maintenance or security – an overall ‘fly-eye’ for increased situational awareness). We are slowly yet steadily moving towards more data-enriched operations.

How are you handling sustainability’s social side, especially regarding your labour force?

The experience of the port, likewise our partners from across the transport and logistics industry, is that recruiting new people will be increasingly challenging. At the same time, the demand will grow as the workforce’s hair becomes more and more sprinkled with grey.

Another difficulty is that there’s no ‘port curriculum’ – newcomers must learn the ropes from the seasoned employees. This situation also poses a challenge, namely to transfer those decades of experience so this wealth of knowledge won’t get lost.

Moreover, Helsinki, as a capital city, offers plenty of job opportunities, which makes

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it all the more difficult to cut through with what we have to offer.

And then certain careers critically important to the transportation sector, like truck drivers, are consistently losing their appeal.

Such professions must either be reinvented to make them more attractive to youngsters or automated.

That said, we are doing what we can to familiarise the young generations, our potential workers, with the maritime world. The port job is meaningful – one can feel the importance of their work literally with one’s fingertips. Responsibility is also high, as shown by

the pandemic when seaports came to the fore and kept the Finnish society and economy running. Finland is often said to be like an island, primarily supplied by the sea. That ‘statistic’ went from 80% to 95% because of corona. Unfortunately, the memory of the general public is short, and other issues have since occupied peoples’ minds, not necessarily how the supply chain works, let alone the very existence of seaports.

Notwithstanding, the Port of Helsinki has invested in a robust human resources department tasked with ensuring that this continuity of expertise won’t crumble. We are also in

constant contact with the communities that may be affected by port operations, in addition to holding open days when people can come and see how we work.

It is a cyclical business, marked by ups and downs, meaning that we’ll pull through with dedication – whether we’re speaking about freight or passenger slumps or sustainability challenges. The Port of Helsinki will remain a balanced company, not easily blown over by difficulties from one or the other side. If you strive to do things a little better today than yesterday, the chances are you’ll be good. Altogether, it’s a lesson in agility.

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Mitigating the risks across the cold supply chain

Keep it coolly controlled

by Mike Yarwood, Managing Director Loss Prevention, TT Club Perishable refrigerated cargoes remain a growing sector of global container trade. This usually valuable freight brings above-average revenue to logistics providers, forwarders and carriers but can also increase liability and loss exposure. Let us look at how updated processes are helping reduce such risks and advise on the extra care that all stakeholders in the cool chain should be prepared to take in these cargoes.

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s the world’s specialised refrigerated ship fleet continues to decline, it is counted that containers are today utilised for up to 75% of all temperature-controlled shipments, introducing multiple touch points and nodes in the supply chain, where the exchange of accurate information is critical.

The process of correctly packing, handling and monitoring equipment and goods will continue to demand attention (as we keep in mind that around one-third of all food produced for human consumption is estimated to be lost or wasted each year).

Insuring this supply chain process, TT Club has considerable experience in understanding how things can go wrong. The majority of insurance claims involving perishable cargo are found to occur due to confusion between the use of Celsius (°C) and Fahrenheit (°F) when setting temperatures; poor communication of temperature requirements (plus vs minus temperatures); and failure to monitor or supply power to the cargo transport unit (CTU) throughout its journey.

Instances of ambient cargoes, such as bread and chocolate, being mistakenly shipped in deep-freeze conditions or, conversely, shipments of fish and animal carcasses requiring to be carried under deep-freeze conditions below -18°C, arriving with the consignee at +18°C are all too common. Inevitably, these simple mistakes result in a dramatic deterioration of the cargo, leading to claims of total loss and often disposal costs.

Knowing your customers when handling these cargoes is vital for all stakeholders in the temperature-controlled supply chain. Under the IMO/ILO/UNECE Code 32 | Baltic Transport Journal | 5/2023

of Practice for Packing Cargo Transport Units, the shipper is responsible for defining specific instructions and requirements regarding cargo transport. This responsibility may be passed to a logistics service provider, not least when full supply chain-managed operations are undertaken (though it is noted that the service provider will rarely bear the total cost of the damaged load).

Risk consideration & mitigation For most cargoes, the shipper will typically specify a set temperature at which the load is to be maintained throughout the transit. A range of acceptable temperatures may be stipulated for less sensitive chilled cargoes. In either case, when sub-contracting transport moves, whether short inter-depot transfers or global containerised movements, it is essential to ensure that clear and accurate written instructions are passed down the contractual chain. The margins for error are often very small: the difference between ‘-’ and ‘+’ temperatures can be easily confused in communications and will likely have catastrophic effects on the cargo.

While the Celsius scale is most commonly used globally, certain regions (such as in the USA) or trades may utilise Fahrenheit.

Adding to the confusion, 0°C is a widely recognised setting for chilled cargoes, whilst 0°F is a widely used temperature for frozen shipments. Again, accurate communication is critical in avoiding potential losses.

Once the shipping instructions have been made clear, the container must function properly. Reefer equipment should be regularly inspected for conformity, especially prior to loading, and such units should be serviced and maintained regularly. Visual

checks for damage should also be carried out before packing. Damage to the internal vents, perhaps caused by previous poor packing, can severely affect airflow efficiency through the CTU, resulting in a failure to reach the set point temperature.

Pre-packing checks and correct packing play an important role. The CTU operator is responsible for ensuring that the provided unit is in good condition, clean and free from odour. The packer also needs to be satisfied that the CTU is clean. The cargo must be evenly distributed with due care taken to ensure a free flow of air and pallets stacked safely and securely. Crucially, the load should be cooled to the desired carrying temperature prior to loading: goods packed at elevated temperatures are unlikely to achieve the desired setting and are at risk of rejection by the consignee.

Due to the typical nature of trade, there are circumstances where reefer units will need to be repositioned. Transporting empty equipment is a costly endeavour, so reefers are not infrequently used to transport goods in non-operating mode as if they were a standard dry van. This, too, has the potential to generate interesting claims.

Not just where perhaps an incompatible cargo has been packed, leading to damage of the unit, but what happens when a load of electronic equipment has been packed and mid-journey a well-meaning reefer engineer plugs the unit in, not realising that it was intentionally unplugged.

TT Club has therefore published a new edition of its TT Brief suite of guidance documents aimed at operational personnel, those who are actually packing the goods, inspecting the equipment and setting the temperature. The publication raises

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Photo: Canva

awareness of the main issues that result in damage to cargo through the temperature-controlled supply chain in an accessible format. The TT Brief highlights risk mitigation strategies that can be adopted in connection with communication, packing and pre-trip inspection, as well as drawing attention to a series of red flags.

Improvement through digitalisation Technological advances in digitalising processes, telematics and smart containers provide opportunities to mitigate risk for the temperature-controlled supply chain. However, much still relies on human intervention – and that is the aspect that TT Club’s claims experience suggests continues to produce losses.

A large range of temperature-sensitive commodities transverse the globe every day, transported in an array of CTUs. While many perceive that sensitive or perishable goods are predominantly foodstuff, many other items must be carried in a controlled environment, such as flowers and live plants, pharmaceuticals and dangerous goods, to name a few. Indeed, several commodities require even greater sophistication relating to venting or controlled atmospheres.

Where dangerous goods and chemicals are concerned, the resulting damage can have wider-reaching consequences. More sensitive cargoes – such as fertilisers or those that polymerise – have the propensity to ignite or explode if not kept within required temperature parameters. Ensuring complete integrity throughout the entire supply chain can not only be critical to protect the cargo but also to maintain safety.

Inevitably, there are a number of entities seeking to bring greater certainty and control into the cool chain processes. For example, one of the TT Club Innovation in Safety Award finalists in 2022, Intermodal Telematics, has developed a multiple temperature alert system that serves to monitor the temperature of the cargo during transit within tank containers and rail tank cars.

This digital solution provides early warnings of any temperature irregularity during transit, affording the opportunity for experts to intervene if required (more details can be found in the awards digest).

LogChain is a further example of an organisation seeking to improve processes through digitisation in the chemical supply chain. A logistics platform for the chemical industry, the company provides

manufacturers and operators with complete visibility and real-time transparency of their trade lanes. A single source of truth regarding the product, in particular any requirements around temperature control, dramatically diminishes the chances of a mistake or miscommunication manifesting in a safety incident.

Towards deeper risk understanding Technology and attention to process optimisation will undoubtedly continue to improve risk and the degree of control in transit where temperature-controlled cargoes are concerned.

Nevertheless, much today still relies on human interventions – whether that be interpreting instructions, ensuring that T-bars on the reefer container floors are free of debris, effective packing of cargo to facilitate airflow, setting the temperature of the equipment, monitoring performance or educating digital systems in the first instance.

The current loss profile could be significantly improved through a deeper understanding of the common risks, improved communications and the implementation of robust checking processes.

TT Club specialises in the insurance of intermodal operators, non-vessel owning common carriers, freight forwarders, logistics operators, marine terminals, stevedores, port authorities and ship operators.

The company also deals with claims, underwriting, risk management as well as actively works on increasing safety through the transport & logistics field. Please visit www.ttclub.com for more info.

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The EU legislation to decarbonize vessels at berth

Cold ironing – hot topic

by Dr. Kai-Dieter Classen, LL.M. (Berkeley), Deputy Director of the External Affairs Division of the Hamburg Port Authority1 Providing moored vessels with electricity is becoming a heated debate for seaports and the shipping industry.

The revised European rules on Alternative Fuels Infrastructure and the newly developed FuelEU Maritime Regulation force ports to provide onshore power supply (OPS) systems by 2030 and require vessels to connect while berthed. The interplay of both legislation sets is supposed to remove the risk of constructing stranded assets.

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ecarbonizing the shipping industry is a global task, given its international nature. However, as the 76th meeting of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC) in June 2021 did not deliver satisfying results, the European Commission (COM) no longer refrained from proposing regional measures in July 2021. The so-called Fit for 55 package contained a comprehensive set of rules, among others, the Proposal for a Regulation on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure (AFIR) and the Proposal for a Regulation on the use of renewable and low-carbon fuels in maritime transport (FuelEU Maritime Regulation).

In ports, the complex interrelation of both Regulations is supposed to ensure the timely 34 | Baltic Transport Journal | 5/2023

deployment of sufficient OPS capacity, combined with an obligation for vessels to cold iron for all their electrical power demand at berth by 1 January 2030. After having being approved by the Union’s legislators in late July 2023, both legal instruments were recently published in the Official Journal, the AFIR as Regulation 2023/1804 (OJ 2023 L 234/1) and the FuelEU Maritime Regulation as Regulation 2023/1805 (OJ L 2023 234/48).

Ports should commence planning procedures, as AFIR applies to various types of cargo and passenger vessels.

Infrastructure requirements European rules on alternative fuel infrastructure are not novel. In 2014, a Directive contained a framework for the EU Member States to develop such infrastructures. Yet,

it failed to deliver the desired results: higher electricity costs – as compared to power generated on board – and the absence of compulsory use prevented the emergence of a business case and, thus, the construction of OPS systems on a larger scale.

With the new set of rules, this deficit shall be resolved. Notably, they come in the form of a Regulation, which is directly applicable and enforceable in all EU Member States and, hence, has a much higher legal reachthrough than a Directive.

According to Article 9 AFIR, the EU Member States shall ensure that a minimum shore-side electricity supply for seagoing container and passenger ships is provided in TEN-T maritime ports, both 1

This article represents the author’s personal views.

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Photo: Canva

Core and Comprehensive ones. The due date for the readiness of the installations is 31 December 2029.

Concerning container ships, a port has to provide shore-side electricity supply for at least 90% of the total number of port calls per year – as soon as the port receives more than 100 box-carrying vessels annually (averaged over the last three years).

The same obligation applies to ro-ro passenger ships or high-speed passenger crafts – as soon as the port receives more than 40 vessels/year.

For cruise ships (“seagoing passenger ships other than seagoing ro-ro passenger ships and seagoing high-speed passenger craft”), the threshold triggering the obligation to provide OPS is even lower. Once the number of calls averaged over the last three years is above 25 annually, the obligation to provide shore-side electricity supply for at least 90% of the total number of port calls per year kicks in. Only vessels above gross tonnage (GT) of 5,000 are covered in all supply scenarios.

Regarding the calculation of the calls necessary to trigger the obligation to provide OPS, it is interesting to note that the

relevant reference is “port calls” – not “terminal calls.” Considering that OPS systems are installed at specific berths on specific terminals – unless a port relies on fully mobile solutions – the reference to port calls might cause a less targeted and potentially wider obligation to provide cold ironing than a terminal-specific approach.

Further, it is unclear which specific period the term “averaged over the last three years” refers to. The three years before the AFIR enters into force (i.e., 2020-2022)? Or did the legislator intend a dynamic calculation (generally the last three years, independent of the year of entry into force)? Especially for small ports, a lot can change between now and 2030, given the dynamic development of maritime trade. Hence, a precise definition of the relevant years of reference is required because significant and time-critical investment decisions depend on it.

When it comes to calculating the number of calls, Article 9 §2 excludes certain port calls from the count, referring to exceptions listed in Article 6 §5 FuelEU Maritime Regulation: (a) extremely short mooring; (b) use of approved zero-emission technologies; (c) unscheduled port call due

to unforeseen circumstances beyond the control of the ship; (e) unavailability of OPS due to risks for the grid stability; and (g) use of onboard electricity due to specific emergency situations.

According to Article 21 and Annex II, the following technical specifications apply: shore-side electricity supply for seagoing ships (including the design, installation and testing of the systems) shall comply at least with the technical requirements of the IEC/ IEEE 80005-1:2019/AMD1:2022 standard for high-voltage shore connections (§5.1).

Plugs, socket outlets and ship couplers for high-voltage shore connection shall comply at least with the technical specification of the IEC 62613-1:2019 standard (§5.2).

While an older draft clarified that only OPS installations deployed or renewed after the entry into force of AFIR have to comply with those standards, the final version does not include such clarification.

That puts a question mark behind existing OPS systems, which have been developed for certain point-to-point ferry connections and (deliberately) do not comply with the standards defined above. In light of the principle of protection of legitimate 5/2023 | Baltic Transport Journal | 35

LEGAL

Photo: Ports of Stockholm

expectation and the absence of retroactive applicability of AFIR, such installations should enjoy grandfathering.

Shipping lines’ obligations The FuelEU Maritime Regulation is a novel instrument without a predecessor in European Law. Its main purpose is to limit the greenhouse gas intensity of energy used on board by a ship, introducing reduction targets that increase in a steplike arrangement, ultimately requiring an 80% reduction by 2050. This decarbonization instrument includes an obligation to use OPS or zeroemission technologies in ports under the jurisdiction of an EU Member State.

According to the central Article 6, container and passenger ships above GT 5,000, which are moored at the quayside in a port of call covered by Article 9 AFIR, shall connect to OPS and use it for all their electrical power demand at berth as of 1 January 2030 – regardless of the flag. In this context, “container ship” means a vessel designed exclusively for the carriage of containers in holds and on deck. A “passenger ship” can be any vessel carrying more than 12 36 | Baltic Transport Journal | 5/2023

passengers (so also certain ro-ro vessels).

This relatively narrow scope excludes notably tankers, bulkers, vehicle carriers and general cargo ships, all of which typically do not carry passengers.

EU Member States may oblige container and passenger ships unilaterally from 1 January 2030 until 31 December 2034 to use OPS also in ports not covered by Article 9 AFIR, provided the EU Member State notifies its decision to the COM a year prior to the application thereof. As of 1 January 2035, this notification requirement is dropped.

Ships moored at the quayside in a port of call not covered by Article 9 AFIR and where the quay is equipped with available OPS shall connect to that facility and use it for all its electrical power demand at berth without further preconditions. EU Member States may extend the obligations applying to container and passenger vessels moored at the quayside – also to ships at anchorage under the condition of prior notification.

Article 6 §5 contains a comprehensive list of exceptions, most of which have been mentioned above (a, b, c, e and g). In addition to those, a vessel is exempted from the

obligation to connect to OPS where (d) connection points are unavailable; where (f) an incompatibility of systems prevents the vessel from connecting – provided that the onboard installation is certified in accordance with the technical specifications set out in Annex II to AFIR; or (h) maintenance or functional tests require the use of onboard energy generation.

One of these exceptions should be highlighted: if a vessel uses zero-emission technologies that comply with the general requirements for such solutions provided for in Annex III of the FuelEU Maritime Regulation, it is not obliged to connect to OPS (Article 6 §5 (b)). That way, the Regulation prioritizes OPS but at the same time recognizes that this technology is not the only solution for reducing emissions at berth. Opening the regulatory door to other solutions comes close to the ports’ demand for a technology-open approach. However, the list of technologies permitted by Annex III is currently somewhat concise.

As of 1 January 2035, the regime of exceptions is further tightened by Article 6 §10, which allows vessels to apply exceptions

LEGAL provided for in Article 6 §5 (d), (e) and (f) (connection points are unavailable, unavailability of OPS due to risks for the grid stability, incompatibility of systems not being the vessel’s fault, respectively) only to a maximum number of port calls, corresponding to 10% of a ship’s total number of port calls that took place during a reporting period, or to a maximum of 10 port calls during the relevant reporting period (whichever is lower). By limiting the availability of certain exceptions to a maximum number of port calls, vessels are incentivized to call at ports where compatible OPS connection points are available (and the grid stability is not an issue) because non-compliant port calls for which a vessel cannot claim an exception, will be penalized.

This, in turn, puts a certain economic pressure on ports to offer proper OPS connection points to avoid losing traffic.

Ships shall inform ports about their intention to connect to OPS or use a zeroemission technology. Ships that intend to ‘plug in’ shall also indicate how much power they expect to require during that port call.

Upon receipt of the information, a confirmation to the ship whether an OPS connection is available or not shall be given.

Coherence of policies With the FuelEU Maritime Regulation, the COM explicitly pursues the goal of reducing the greenhouse gas intensity of energy used (Article 1), a task which is directly derived from the commitments made in the 2015 Paris Agreement and, building on those, the European Climate Law (Article 1 of Regulation 2021/1119).

From that angle, tackling climate change means targeting ships’ CO2 emissions during voyage and at berth.

From the ports’ point of view, OPS does very little to reduce overall CO2 emissions as the vast bulk of these occur during the voyage – not at berth. Only in the case of cruise vessels, the emission distribution between voyage and berth is almost even.

For ports, OPS is a crucial tool to comply with air quality requirements by targeting ships’ NOX, SOX and particulate matter (PM) emissions, especially at berths where critical values are reached. This motivation is at least acknowledged by Recital 45 of AFIR, according to which “infrastructure be deployed where the maximum return on investment and occupancy rate result in the highest environmental benefits in terms of greenhouse gas emissions reductions and air pollution reductions.”

However, while the FuelEU Maritime Regulation gives EU Member States the flexibility to oblige vessels to connect to

OPS also in ports that are not covered by Article 9 AFIR, its limited scope leaves quite a lot of ships unregulated (those under GT 5,000 and vessels other than container ships and passenger ships). This deliberate omission translates into a ‘permission to pollute’ for vessels not covered and, quite naturally, creates friction with the ports’ goal of reducing air pollutants.

This problem is exacerbated by the planned recast of the European Ambient Air Quality Directives (2004/107/EC and 2008/50/EC).

In its proposal (COM(2022)542, 26.10.2022), the COM aligns the EU air quality standards more closely with the 2021 WHO recommendations, particularly PM and nitrogen dioxide, leading to a considerable lowering of the critical values. The revised limit and target values will enter into force in 2030; even tighter limits will be anticipated for 2050. In this respect, ports face an unpleasant dilemma: how can they achieve compliance if the OPS obligation for vessels at berth is incomplete – not to mention emissions occurring during manoeuvring? It seems that EU climate policy and environmental policy are not as coherent as ports would wish.

Evaluation and open questions In 2021, we asked whether the European Green Deal will make the ports’ future more sustainable. With a view to the AFIR and FuelEU Maritime Regulation, the answer is “yes” – but not without certain reservations.

The recast of the Energy Taxation Directive 2003/96/EG (see COM(2021) 563, 14.7.2021) will likely add financial incentives once the complex legislative procedure that touches upon the EU Member States’ right to taxation is completed. The proposal contains a tax exemption for electricity directly supplied to vessels berthed in ports and removes favorable taxation for fossil fuels to make the price of shore power more attractive.

But even with additional tax incentives in place, significant questions remain: who will make the OPS investment and who will run the operations? Port authorities as infrastructure providers are the most likely candidates for the investment; still, as terminal operations are significantly affected by the process of connecting and supplying energy at berth, it might

be wise to get terminal operators on board with the investment – or at least the operation of OPS systems.

The obligation to connect to OPS creates a business case and should allow investors to recoup their investment, avoiding the risk of stranded assets – but only from 2030 onwards. Before that date, investors have to pre-finance the installations, which in most cases won’t be possible without state subsidies. Article 56b of the General Block Exemption Regulation (Regulation 651/2014, last amended by Regulation 2023/1315, OJ 2023 L 167) continues to exempt state subsidies for recharging and refueling infrastructure – formerly known as “alternative fuel infrastructure” – from the notification requirement under Article 107 TFEU, treating such facilities as port infrastructure.

However, OPS money must be available in public budgets – which must finance many Green Deal-related projects.

Finally, ports with OPS systems ready before 2030 to meet air quality requirements are faced with the question of who will pick up the bill for the energy supplied.

As long as electricity supplied via OPS competes with that generated on board ships, owners – without an obligation to connect – will mostly choose the cheaper energy source, leaving OPS systems significantly underutilized. EU Member States would have to subsidize cold ironing costs as well as to incentivize vessels to connect. That is certainly not a desirable scenario for ports and EU Member States doing more and faster than AFIR requires.

Mounting international pressure, not only from the EU, led the IMO to reconsider its wishy-washy approach. On 7 July 2023, MEPC adopted Resolution MEPC.377(80), which revises IMO’s much-criticized position and contains a much more ambitious course. With a view to ports, the resolution obliges the IMO to “consider and analyze measures to encourage port developments and activities globally to facilitate reduction of GHG emissions from shipping, including provision of ship and shoreside/onshore power supply from renewable sources (…).” In light of the abovementioned Regulations, European ports do not need such encouragement.

Kai-Dieter Classen is a Strategic Legal and Policy Advisor to the management of the Hamburg Port Authority. He represents Hamburg in several Committees of the European Sea Ports Organisation. As an Adjunct Professor at Hamburg University’s Law School, he teaches WTO-Law and European Seaports Law. Prior to joining the Hamburg Port Authority, he served, i.a., as an Official for the Hamburg State Government and as a National Expert in the EU Commission’s Legal Service.

5/2023 | Baltic Transport Journal | 37

Revolution in safety – now also available for terminal cranes

In safe hands

by Jérôme Lacroix, European Sales Manager, TeSuCon In the bustling world of global trade, terminal cranes serve as the unsung heroes, ensuring the smooth flow of goods. However, with great heights and complex structures come significant safety challenges. Enter the Evacuator®, an escape descent system that is about to change the standards in wind energy likewise is poised to transform the safety landscape of terminal cranes globally.

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he Evacuator® is not just an escape system; it’s a paradigm of simplicity, panic-proof design, and fireresistant technology. In a nutshell, an operator can initiate a safe descent in a mere ten seconds, ensuring a swift evacuation during emergencies. Its intuitive ‘clickand-go’ mechanism means that escaping is as simple as it gets, even in the most stressful situations. This panic-proof feature is invaluable, especially in high-pressure scenarios where quick decisions can make a life-saving difference. Moreover, the solution’s fireproof construction (up to 1,200°C; the steel cables cannot burn or melt and can’t get entangled) adds a layer of safety, ensuring that operators can evacuate even in the face of a severe fire emergency, a scenario where traditional escape methods often fail (as fire can, and sadly often does block the escape route).

work at staggering heights and in areas that may quickly become a life-threatening hazard should, e.g., a fire break out.

Its success in this demanding industry is a testament to its reliability and efficiency.

Now, this proven technology is making its way into terminal cranes, notably ship-toshore gantries, promising a safer working environment for operators in terminals across the globe.

One of the most significant advantages of the Evacuator® is its easy integration into existing structures. Its adaptable design allows it to be pre-installed in terminal cranes during the manufacturing process or retrofitted into older models. This seamless installation process ensures that terminal crane operators are always prepared for emergencies – without the hassle of complicated retrofitting procedures.

Prepared for emergencies – always More and more wind farms are opting for this new escape upgrade. Wind turbines are places where technicians routinely

How it works Imagine a scenario where terminal crane operators find themselves in a critical situation – a fire, a structural failure, a cardiac

38 | Baltic Transport Journal | 5/2023

arrest, or any other emergency that necessitates immediate evacuation.

With the solution pre-installed, the operator only needs to reach the escape system, put a (simple) harness on, attach the hook to that harness – all within ten seconds – and then descend to safety, with the descent itself being automatic.

Independent of the weight carried by the steel cable, the no-electricity-required Evacuator® goes at ±1m/s (ensuring safe descent at all wind speeds and in extreme wet conditions or heavy rainfall) and automatically stops when reaching the ground level or a secure platform. In moments of crisis, these seconds saved can be the difference between life and death (in case of acute health problems/cardiac arrest, a person can safely get on the ground within the ‘6 Golden Minutes’ thanks to the Evacuator®).

The solution comes in different variants: the one cable-reel model offers 300 m of descent height and a maximum descent load capacity of 282kg (up to four persons);

MARITIME

Photos: TeSuCon

the two cable-reel version offers 140/165/200m and a max load capacity of 564kg for eight people; the four cable-reel variation offers 50m per cable and a max load capacity of 564kg for 16 persons. There are also different installation configurations: in- and outdoor, with the reels coming from the front or top. All Evacuators® come with a lifespan of at least 30 years (subject to the statutory annual safety inspection; the system can be inspected and tested in about 15 minutes).

The solution is certified by the German institute DEKRA (EN341, in compliance with ANSI Z359/CSA Z259), and the system brings adherence to the UK Offshore Safety Directive Regulator/HSE-Offshore Emergency Response Inspection Guide.

The Evacuator® also complies with the Official European Safety Standard for Wind Turbines EN50308, §4.2.2: “The descent device has to be fireproof enough to allow

escape from the nacelle to the ground in the event of fire, it shall be suitable for the numbers of persons to be evacuated.”

The system does not require any special training, but naturally, such models are available for educational purposes and multiple descent experiences.

Peace of mind When a fire breaks out, people often feel scared and confused. They may not be able to act rationally or follow complex instructions. Our solution is, therefore, more than just an escape system: it’s a lifeline, a beacon of safety in the heart of bustling terminals.

Its integration into terminal cranes signifies a paradigm shift in the industry’s approach to worker safety. With the Evacuator® in place, terminal crane operators can focus on their tasks with peace of mind, knowing that in the face of any emergency, their escape is just a click away, ensuring a safer and more secure future for everyone involved in the global trade ecosystem.

The Dutch Barneveld-based TeSuCon is an official installation and sales partner of the Evacuator®, a new generation of evacuation systems that provides the perfect escape and descent solution for people in emergency situations. The solution is designed for use on wind turbines, offshore substations, harbour cranes, and all other high rise structures. Check tesucon.nl for more information.

5/2023 | Baltic Transport Journal | 39

‘DIY’ fender certification risks undermining port upgrades

Where the rubber meets the ship

by Mishra Kumar, Research and Development Director, Trelleborg Marine and Infrastructure The resilience of the global ports system is being put to the test. Operations have recently been at the epicentre of some prolific supply chain shocks, and logistical tremors are likely to remain part of the new normal. This is combined with a perfect storm of managing rising throughput capacity from increasingly larger vessels, growing competition from emerging ports, shifting trade patterns, pressure to decarbonise, and tackling the impact of extreme weather events on operations. As ports invest in initiatives to boost performance and build resilience, variable and unregulated fender quality poses risks to berthing infrastructure which could negatively impact safety, profitability, and reputation.

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ort safety is an ongoing concern: data released in early 2023 by RightShip highlighted that half of all maritime incidents occurred in ports and terminals last year (including ships at berth, waiting at anchorage, and transiting harbours). Not only does this demonstrate the scale of the risks to vessels when in port boundaries, but it also spotlights the vulnerability of ports to experiencing unplanned downtime, reduced service levels, and reputational cost caused by incidents.

Tackling these challenges to meet increasing trade demands is estimated to create a $5.7b global smart port market by 2027, with Asia and Europe tipped to be the leading regions to drive the transition. This will encompass all facets of digitalisation, but there are latent opportunities to be ‘smarter’ by re-evaluating more commonplace elements of physical port infrastructure.

40 | Baltic Transport Journal | 5/2023

Realising value from ‘commoditised’ assets While ports work towards harnessing intelligent systems to transform their operations digitally, it’s also important not to overlook the value of more routinely used assets. Berthing structures – and particularly fenders – are a prime example. If a fender fails during a collision or heavy berthing, it can be hugely damaging to a port’s performance, profitability, and reputation – regardless of how digitally advanced its support systems are.

The resulting damage can cause significant downtime and berth underutilisation, costly insurance claims and repairs, loss of life or limb, and, ultimately, dissatisfied customers.

Fenders playing a critical role in safety and resilience is becoming especially clear as larger container vessels enter the global fleet, creating a cascade of increasing ship size onto routes typically handled by

smaller ones. And at a time when environmental responsibility is paramount, these unassuming systems can also be the front line for preventing oil spills, especially if tankers experience a heavy berth.

Yet, the importance of fender performance has been drastically underestimated. Their seemingly simple function and lack of physical differentiation mean that, over time, it has become difficult to distinguish quality and value – and why these characteristics matter more than just price. A slew of cheap, poorly designed, and low-quality fenders is currently on the market, with manufacturers of these products promising performance at low-cost prices.

Without expert guidance, it is inevitable that port operators and their consultants will be unable to differentiate the merits between competing solutions and could unwittingly jeopardise operations if basing decisions on cost alone.

MARITIME

Photo: Ports of Stockholm

Stretching the economics Choosing inexpensive options for fender systems can be a misguided choice. Apart from potentially posing operational risks, cheaper products often have a shorter lifespan, typically lasting only two to three years. On the other hand, high-quality systems supplied by knowledgeable providers who can offer guidance on lifecycle considerations can last approximately 20 years. It is thus crucial to pay close attention to the detailed design, production, quality control, installation, operations, and maintenance of fender systems.

Furthermore, the term “rubber” is quite ambiguous in and of itself, covering various types and grades. Natural rubber, synthetic rubber (styrene-butadiene), and blended ethylene propylene diene rubber each possess distinct characteristics suitable for different applications. For instance, natural rubber has a lower velocity factor and exhibits increased reaction force during high-speed compression compared to synthetic rubber. Blended ethylene propylene diene rubber performs well in high-temperature environments, while synthetic rubber demonstrates lower crack growth.

Therefore, designing an effective rubber fender for specific site conditions requires a comprehensive understanding of the rubber type and its impact on fundamental performance factors like force and temperature.

However, there is a lack of adherence to quality control practices when selecting, specifying, or determining the rubber type for fenders. This absence of precise specifications means manufacturers may utilise different rubber types, including lower-quality

recycled rubbers, to minimise costs. At the same time, designers remain unaware that the product may not deliver the desired performance for a given application.

The absence of rigorous, independent testing and standardised certification compounds the problem. Manufacturers are still allowed to conduct their own performance tests and self-certify their products, creating a conflict of interest and a lack of standardisation. Consequently, customers have no benchmark or third-party quality assurance regarding the design and components of fenders. This situation has resulted in a disparity between ports that enforce stringent guidelines, as seen in many European harbours and those in developing markets where there may be no requirements at all.

Strengthening defences It is crucial to establish new and rigorous standardised testing processes, with input from credible certification bodies, to counter the race to the bottom in fender quality observed around the world. Developing the newly updated PIANC WG211 guidelines has been a lengthy, thoughtful, and collaborative process; these, set to be released later this year, will prioritise the role and requirements of fender testing, offering muchneeded direction and clearer expectations.

However, it’s important to note that these guidelines are not legally enforceable. As a result, it remains the responsibility of the sector to self-regulate and determine what is acceptable. In light of this, we strongly encourage operators and marine engineers to adopt a zero-tolerance policy towards poor-quality products. They should demand evidence of best-in-class testing, traceable product composition, and adherence to rigorous design standards. By taking these measures, the industry can weed out unscrupulous providers and foster a culture of improved quality and safety.

Fender systems can significantly impact operational performance if they are developed with specialists who can understand the technical landscape and deliver the core engineering, design, quality, and maintenance aspects whilst setting these factors into the real-world context of variable port environments.

Even in the midst of the industry’s digital transformation, there is a need for taking a more holistic approach to improving performance, safety, and sustainability. If mindsets – and standards – shift, there is a real opportunity to unlock innovation for improving port resilience from even some of the most unassuming operational assets.

Trelleborg Marine & Infrastructure are global leaders in highlyengineered polymer solutions, committed to advancing operational performance in marine, port and built infrastructure, empowering clients to succeed at the highest level. Go to trelleborg.com/en/marine-and-infrastructure to learn more.

5/2023 | Baltic Transport Journal | 41

Jointly overcoming the challenges that hold back the adoption of shore power

At a tipping point

by Robert Schulter, Managing Director, e1 Marine Diesel engines are the workhorse of the maritime economy. They are reliable and relatively low-cost.

However, they emit significant amounts of air pollution, including fine particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, air toxics, and carbon dioxide, which negatively impact human health and the environment.

Onshore power supply (OPS) radically reduces in-port emissions from vessels, and while the challenges for its large-scale implementation are many, it’s high time to tackle them.

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here’s no shortage of seaports publicly stating their aim to reduce toxic emissions and become net zero, both for their infrastructure and the vessels visiting. Shore power is on their agenda, and early adopters have already paved the way.

A noticeable and growing number of high-voltage OPS facilities with sufficient capacity are available throughout the Baltic Sea region (BSR), primarily for ferry traffic served by German, Finnish, and Swedish harbours. Aarhus, Kiel and Rostock also have installed power for cruise ships, the electricity demand of which can be significantly higher than for smaller passenger ships. Later this year, Stockholm will also be ready with shore power for cruisers, followed by Copenhagen in 2025. By 2030, it is estimated that nine to 14 of the regional ports will be cruise OPS-ready.

The disconnections Despite the promising rise of shore power installations, many ports are held back by inadequate electricity connections. Power availability can also be an issue if they are located near major cities with their own substantial electrical energy demands.

In July this year, the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) outlined what it sees as the significant challenges for the wider roll-out of cold ironing. They mainly relate 42 | Baltic Transport Journal | 5/2023

to the cost of deploying OPS and the lack of a business case, even if all operational expenses are charged for and the users bear a depreciation cost for the infrastructure.

Additionally, at this stage, there is usually insufficient grid capacity to provide several vessels simultaneously with electricity. Where OPS installations are in place, the current price often prevents users from plugging in. Moreover, in most countries, the port authorities pay a fixed cost all year for large capacity that they usually only need during a few months (e.g., the cruise season).

Connecting and disconnecting operations differ between ship segments. On container terminals, there is staff permanently available; on cruise terminals, there is not, says ESPO. Therefore, extra personnel is required on the quay during the connecting and disconnecting, and in between, on standby in case of emergency. These operations require skilled workers, and the weight of the cables implies at least two people are needed. ESPO also underlines that shore power infrastructure is tailor-made for every ship type, complicating long-term planning and investment (particularly if we’re discussing fixed facilities). Installing a fit-for-all system does not seem possible (unless somebody devises an off-the-grid fully mobile solution with enough ‘steam’ to power different ship types for hours on end).

Implementing new into old From the perspective of a solutions provider, e1 Marine has found that integrating components of different maturity levels can be a challenge.

Our containerised energy units include methanol-to-hydrogen reformers that provide the feedstock for fuel cells. Along with battery packages and electrical management systems, the solution will enable ports to produce their own shore power.

The containers are portable, meaning that operators can use the system flexibly wherever it’s needed most. In addition to providing a power source for cold ironing, the technology can provide electricity for other port operations and equipment, such as water & land battery-electric vehicles or drayage trucks.

However, no uniform code can be resourced for the acceptance of this new technology into any facility. While standards and regulations can be available for specific components, no rule governs the integrated units combining new technologies.

The containerised unit’s design must be adopted to fit local markets and conditions, not just in terms of product output, voltage, frequency, etc., but also in compliance with local regulatory requirements, conditions put forth by port & city authorities, state international marine regulations, and more.

MARITIME energy efficiency technologies, it will miss out on latent emission savings. For example, our methanol-to-hydrogen generator can remove 99% of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-regulated emissions, drastically improving air quality in and around ports.

Photos: e1 Marine

The regulatory hurdles of introducing new technology into ports are vast and complex with this variety of stakeholders.

Having a working integrated product is critical. End users are interested in tangible solutions and hesitant to commit to paper ideas. They are enthused about feasible and available products within reasonable time frames – not in the early stages of development. In this regard, e1 Marine has the advantage of having a working prototype system available through one of our stakeholders, Element 1, Maritime Partners’ Hydrogen One, the world’s first methanol-to-hydrogen fuel cell tugboat. We are also progressing with building a demonstration unit for our containerised solution.

Whereas many still expect that technology will have minimal or no cost impact and fit seamlessly into the space currently held

by traditional equipment, some customers understand this will come with a cost.

Successful implementation of e1 Marine’s containerised solutions depends on collaboration between all stakeholders: our company, port authorities, terminal operators, local authorities, and end users.

Change is happening, and although there is a reluctance to be a first mover and trial the use of new solutions, especially if the financials work differently, it is evident that ports that aren’t improving their resilience and sustainability risk losing business that will be hard to attract back. Until the industry can fast-track the adoption of

Success must come In all truth, the challenges must be tackled sooner than soon, especially given the formal adoption of the FuelEU Maritime Regulation by the EU Council in July this year. The new legislation aims to put maritime transport on the trajectory of the EU’s climate targets for 2030 and 2050. It will play a fundamental role in delivering on the European Climate Law. It includes an obligation for passenger and container ships to use shore power for all electricity needs while moored at the quayside in EU TEN-T ports as of 2030.

This new legal landscape will become a reality from 1 January 2025.

Additionally, pressure is piquing amongst European seaports to retain customers within the new regulatory climate.

There are growing concerns, as raised by the Federation of European Private Port Operators in December 2022, that the scope of the EU Emissions Trading System and FuelEU Maritime could harm the competitive position of the region’s terminals, with shipping companies potentially diverting cargoes to non-EU ports to save money – not the environment. Enabling clients to meet environmental requirements and maintain profitability is thus crucial, and low-emission shoreside power will play a vital role in EU ports’ line of defence.

The new laws provide the legal ‘push’ towards broader OPS adoption and actual use. They reflect the growing global recognition of the need to act on climate change.

Shore power – if it’s sustainable and from green sources – radically reduces greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution by allowing to shut down the ship’s fossil fuelpowered auxiliary engines at berth.

As new technologies are being developed, we have the drive and ambition, so it is time for ports, shipping companies, and technology providers to come together and overcome the challenges. The world is at a tipping point, and we can all be part of the solution that tips it in the right direction.

e1 Marine provides clean energy technologies, including advanced methanolto-hydrogen generation products supporting the fuel cell industry. Our groundbreaking technology enables maritime operators to generate fuel cell-grade hydrogen on board or on-site, efficiently and safely – whenever and wherever they need it. Head to e1marine.com to discover more.

5/2023 | Baltic Transport Journal | 43

Will FuelEU Maritime bring a significant decrease in shipping emissions by the 2040s?

How (not) to quit fossil fuels

by Ewa Kochańska Transport & Environment (T&E) has released a report assessing the effects of the FuelEU Maritime (FEUM) Regulation on the European maritime sector. While the study recognises the significance of political consensus on this first global legislation pushing the shipping industry to shift to low-carbon fuel technologies, it has also found that FEUM will keep the maritime sector reliant on fossil fuels even after 2050. “The ambition and scope of the Regulation still leave huge room for improvement, and more needs to be done to put shipping on a Paris-compliant trajectory,” states the publication.

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uelEU Maritime, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in shipping, is part of the Fit for 55 package, legislation representing the EU’s attempt to reduce its overall negative environmental footprint and transition to a more sustainable and low-carbon economy.

As it is now, the maritime sector still heavily relies on traditional fuels, which greatly damage the environment and contribute to air pollution and climate change.

The main goal of FEUM is to promote the switch to sustainable fuels in shipping.

The T&E report examines the impact of the transition by modelling how shipping companies are likely to respond to increasing restrictions and fuel costs.

Needed alterations The publication stresses that certain improvements must be made to the legislation by 2027 to correct the trajectory. Right now, the main specifications of FEUM include a progressive reduction in GHG intensity of shipping fuels in five-year increments from 2025 to 2050; a requirement for ships to use shore-side electricity (SSE) or an alternative zero-emission technology while moored in EU TEN-T ports; a sub-target mandating ships to use at least 2% renewable fuels of non-biological-origin (RFNBO) from 2034 if a minimum of 1% uptake of RFNBOs has not taken place by 2031 (so-called ‘sunrise’ clause); a multiplier of two for RFNBO – until the sub-target comes in – permitting a lower volume of RFNBO to comply, which reduces the costs associated with its use; a pooling mechanism which allows combining emissions and RFNBO consumption within and between operators allowing for fleetwide target fulfilment instead of only individually; allowing companies to shift their compliance balance from year to year – the ‘banking and borrowing’ mechanism – instead of having to fully comply each year.

The T&E study found that several corrections in FEUM could help propel EU shipping 44 | Baltic Transport Journal | 5/2023

in the right direction. Firstly, too many types of vessels remain unregulated, such as ships under the gross tonnage (GT) of 5,000, offshore vessels or fishing and non-cargo ships (those added up to 20% of all emissions in the EU in 2021). Next, the targets in the legislation are too weak, according to the report, requiring only a 14.5% reduction in emissions in the late 2030s without requiring a transition into truly sustainable fuels (the ‘banking and borrowing’ clause adds to this problem). Thirdly, the RFNBO target is too limited even compared to existing industry targets, and fourthly, penalties for non-compliance are much too low, possibly allowing for a ‘pay-to-comply’ scheme instead of encouraging a sustainable shift.

The base(s) By analysing several scenarios in the container shipping sector, with varying fuel pricing and feasibility, the research study allows for comparing several options that could produce better outcomes (Tab. 1).

The first scenario – 1A – uses ‘base case’ pricing assumptions, FEUM emission intensity reduction for every five years, RFNBO sub-target (assuming that the ‘sunrise’ clause comes into place from 2034), RFNBO multiplier (until the introduction of the subtarget), and the SSE mandate.

The results underscored that the agreement stimulates the uptake of liquefied natural gas (LNG) dual-fuel (DF) high-pressure two-stroke engines in the 2030s, after which, in the 2040s, ammonia DF becomes the “technology of choice.” In such a scenario, vessels using fuel oil and LNG DF would make up 72% of the container vessels in the EU in terms of fuel consumption in 2040 and 37% in 2050. “Given that methanol-fuelled ships are available today, and ammoniafuelled vessels are likely to become feasible within the next few years, FuelEU Maritime is unnecessarily slow in pushing the shipping industry to shift to more advanced propulsion technologies,” points out the report.

Scenario 1A clearly illustrates that fossil LNG will see an increase in demand from 10% in 2025-2029 to 39% by 2035-39; even in 2050, it will tot up to 22% of total consumption.

This is because the FEUM agreement actually encourages its use at the beginning because of its low costs and lacklustre emissions intensity targets. Therefore, although LNG is marketed as a “transitional fuel” under the current agreement, it will still be used in the 2050s.

This scenario also finds that e-ammonia will become the primary fuel in shipping from 2040 and beyond, if technically possible, due to its comparatively low cost.

Additionally, e-LNG in this scenario “is not economically feasible” until the final period (because of lack of investment in e-LNG plants); therefore, e-LNG should not be considered a solution to emission problems in shipping because that will simply extend the use of fossil LNG into the 2050s.

In regards to RFNBO, these fuels are disincentivised in the 2025-35 period (despite the multiplier); the RFNBO subtarget doesn’t move the needle during this time since e-ammonia (at 6% of fuel mix) becomes a better option for operators.

However, other scenarios in the report illustrate that the sub-target is vital to increasing sustainable fuel use if the e-ammonia price point does not become competitive in achieving emission intensity goals.

The report advises that since e-methanol and e-ammonia engines are supposed to be widely available beginning in the late 2020s, FEUM should be revised to increase the use of these fuels instead of waiting until the 2040s.

Regarding emissions, under scenario 1A, the total well-to-wake CO2e emissions of container ships in the EU will either stay the same or even increase; only after 2040-44 do they have the potential to decline. The report states that in the first 10-15 years of FEUM implementation, the emission reductions will not be high enough to offset the possible rise in demand in the container ship sector.

SUSTAINABILITY Tab. 1. Summary of scenarios generated for The Impact of FuelEU Maritime on EU Shipping report using T&Eʼs container ship optimisation model Code Scenario Description

1A

FuelEU final agreement, base case pricing

1B

FuelEU final agreement, low e-fuels pricing

1C

FuelEU final agreement, low biofuels pricing

1D

1E 2A 2B 3A

FuelEU final agreement, late ammonia feasibility FuelEU final agreement, high ETS prices ‘Business as usual,‘ base case pricing ‘ETS-only,‘ base case pricing FuelEU EU Commission proposal, base case pricing

FuelEU Emissions Intensity Reduction

RFNBO sub-target

RFNBO Multiplier

2%

2% from start2034 onwards (assume ‘sunset’ clause activated)

2025-33: 2x 2034-2054: none (assume ‘sunset’ clause activated)

6%

14.5% 31%

62%

80%

As in 1A

Demand growth Fuel prices & efficiency IMO 4th GHG study, demand scenario: ‘Base case’ pricing SSP2_RCP2.6_G; assumptions efficiency: OECD_RCP2.6_G As in 1A for fossil/ biofuels.

E-fuels take min. value of base case sources As in 1A for fossil/e-fuels.

Biofuels take minimum value of base case sources As in 1A, except for e-methanol which takes mininum value of base case sources

Carbon prices IEA ‘Net Zero Pledges’ scenario

As in 1A

2030: €150/t 2040: €275/t 2050: €400/t None 0% None 2%

4A

Denmark & Germany EU Council proposal, 3% base case pricing

5A

SBTi 1.5°C-compliant emissions, base case pricing

5B

SBTi 1.5°C-compliant emissions, base case pricing, low demand + high efficiency

6%

10%

13%

20%

26%

40%

59%

75%

75%

2030: 2% 2045: 29% 100% 2035: 5% 2050: 70% 2040: 12%

25.5% 60.4% 88.7% 97.8% 99.6% 100%

As in 1A 2025-2034: 4x 2035-2039: 3x 2040-2054: none

None

As in 1A As in 1A

Demand basis IMO 4th GHG study: SSP3_RCP2.6_G; efficiency: T&E Roadmap (2021) ‘optimistic’ scenario

Source: T&E’s The Impact of FuelEU Maritime on EU Shipping

In scenarios where the fuel demand remains the same or grows, FEUM provisions fail to ensure that emissions cuts in shipping comply with the trajectory demanded by the Paris Agreement. Further, regardless of demand, the scenarios show that fossil fuels will not be completely phased out by mid-century, with emissions still projected to remain at 27% of the current level.

On costs of decarbonisation, the report also examines the potential fuel and newbuild pricing under FEUM and the EU Emissions Trading System (minus other fees such as port fees or container handling and maintenance). In Scenario 1A, total costs increase from €9.7 billion/year in 2025-29 to €15.7b/y in 2050-54. Fuel costs will be most important to shippers, as they account for 53% of

total expenses across the whole period. In the business-as-usual scenario (2A), prices stay flat for the most part, but they do not include effects from the International Maritime Organization’s or other regulations.

Additionally, to estimate fuel volumes needed in Europe under FEUM, the study scaled the scenario 1A results to include the whole EU shipping sector, showing that the sector’s fuel demand in Europe will be growing slower than just for container ships because of weaker demand across other segments.

Editing the pathways The report also modelled scenarios with alternative fuel and carbon price points to examine how they could influence the full impact of FEUM. Scenario 1B, for example,

has the same regulatory constraints and pricing for fossil and bio-fuels as scenario 1A, but for all four e-fuels, the minimum value from the same sources is used instead of averages from selected sources.

Results show that scenario 1B sees a higher uptake of RFNBO than scenario 1A: from 6% to 10% in 2035-39 and 24% to 26% in 2040-44.

These outcomes depend on lower e-ammonia prices, making it competitive with other fuels (other e-fuels in this scenario are too expensive to increase RFNBO uptake).

The report also points out that even at the lower price point, the RFNBO sub-target is responsible for the uptake of e-fuels before 2035 – for one year under the ‘sunrise’ clause. “Increasing the sub-target from 2030 would provide more certainty to producers 5/2023 | Baltic Transport Journal | 45

SUSTAINABILITY favour due to predicted higher e-methanol costs than e-ammonia’s. On the other hand, the report notes that a situation in which safety risks associated with e-ammonia are never overcome is not included in the studied model, and such a scenario would be advantageous for methanol-fuelled ships.

Scenario 1D deals with an alternative pathway for keeping the interest in methanol DF ships; the scenario keeps minimum e-methanol prices and slows e-ammonia uptake until 2040. It also assumes that ammonia’s safety and operational problems will not be resolved in the near term. In this situation, the methanol DF fleet would be three times bigger than what is currently on order, but methanol still loses its place as a primary e-fuel in shipping beginning in 2040. The peak for bio-methanol and e-methanol in this scenario is 8% of total fuel consumption (compared to 3% in 1A) as it is used as a bridging e-fuel until e-ammonia becomes available.

“Given the potential competitiveness of methanol in the 2030s if ammonia is unavailable, a strengthening of EU or global regulation in the short term could also encourage a greater role for methanol as a marine fuel,” notes the report. If ammonia’s feasibility is delayed, the RFNBO sub-target will create demand for renewable fuels – by guaranteeing demand.

and should encourage scaling up of production and technological learning, which are likely to lead to lower costs coming down sooner,” the report’s authors say.

Scenario 1C examines the effects of the final FuelEU agreement with lower biofuel price points (fuel prices here represent the minimum values from the same sources as in scenario 1B). In such a case, ship operators still try to lower their emissions in the 2030s by replacing fuel oil ships with LNG DF vessels and using fossil LNG. Having said that, the report points out that the replacement of ships would not happen as uniformly as it does in the model – some operators may not replace their fleets in 2030-34. Those operators might switch to biodiesel instead of building new LNG DF ships to meet the FuelEU emission intensity targets. From 2040, bio-methanol becomes 46 | Baltic Transport Journal | 5/2023

the favoured fuel for new ships because of the low price point, which translates to an increased share of methanol DF engine technology compared to other scenarios.

By contrast, scenarios 1A and 1B see an uptake of e-ammonia; in scenario 1C, e-ammonia uptake is no more than the 2% required by the RFNBO sub-target. “Given the sustainability and scalability issues around biofuels, this highlights the need for a stronger RFNBO target to provide certainty to e-fuel suppliers,” underscores T&E. One of the most significant issues for maritime decarbonisation is the feasibility of ammonia – one of the most promising marine future fuels. These translate into methanol’s more substantial role. Methanol engines are gaining interest because the technology is relatively developed; however, in scenario 1A, methanol ships fall out of

More alternatives Scenario 3A illustrates the situation under the European Commission’s (COM) initial FEUM agreement, which had weaker emission intensity targets and no RFNBO target or multiplier. Under this proposal, fossil fuels would be used longer due to softer targets and slower RFNBO uptake.

Even without RFNBO targets, operators in this scenario would still have to increase RFNBO production as quickly as in the 1A pathway. “In any scenario, we believe a well-calibrated RFNBO sub-target should increase the likelihood that fuel suppliers can rapidly scale up production as demand for these sustainable fuels rises in later periods,” underlines the report.

Another alternative pathway – 4A – is based on Denmark and Germany’s proposal during FEUM negotiations with stronger emission intensity targets, RFNBO subtarget and multiplier. Under this scenario, more ambitious GHG intensity and RFNBO targets translate to lesser demand for fossil LNG – highest at 23% of fuel demand in 2035-39 compared to 39% in scenario 1A. Similarly, RFNBO use goes up faster – reaching 2.2% of fuel demand in 2030-34 and later, with the multipliers driving up

SUSTAINABILITY up to include all of the EU shipping sector, this would amount to 114% of current biofuel consumption by all European transport.

An alternative, more realistic scenario was also tested – 5B – with lower fuel demand but still with the GHG intensity targets set to meet the 1.5°C emission compliance. In 5B, the fuel demand is reduced by 19-27%, and the volume of biofuels is lower than in 5A and doesn’t increase as rapidly. Additionally, the required volume of e-fuels for EU container shipping increases in more achievable increments: e-fuels demand in 2035-39 is 51petajoules/year – compared to 22PJ in 1A – and increases more sharply in the 2040s (compared to 208PJ in the same period in 5A).

demand above the sub-target level, peaking at 25% in 2040-44 and 76% in 2045-49 – compared to 24% and 58% in scenario 1A. Because of this jump, the necessary technological advancement in the 2040s is very intense in this scenario – the report underscores that a more realistic shift could be introduced by increasing targets already in the 2030s. Correspondingly, the most meaningful impact of the sub-target proposals from Denmark and Germany would be the early RFNBO adoption – even just 2% from 2030 would encourage fuel suppliers to begin dedicated production of RFNBO with shipping in mind. “Moreover, the analysis shows that a stronger sub-target would mean that RFNBO uptake is not stalled if ammonia feasibility is delayed; instead, this process begins to happen regardless,” says the report.

Paris-compliant shipping Finally, the report examines – using research by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) – in scenario 5A how FEUM intensity targets could be altered to align the sector with the Paris Agreement goals and how that affects fuel demand.

In 5A, a ‘rapid switch’ of fuels is required in each period – from biofuels in 2025-34, a mix of e-fuels in the 2040s, to e-ammonia uptake by 2050 (as e-ammonia is the only zero-emission option in this model). Results show costs for EU container shipping as 37% higher than in 1A because of this radical transformation. Also, very high volumes of biofuels would be necessary in this scenario: in 2030-34, biodiesel is 50% of total fuel demand, and biofuels as a whole make up 69% of total fuel demand. When scaled

Misaligned trajectories Based on the analysis of the data gathered in the study, the T&E report makes several recommendations for the Fit for 55 package regarding shipping.

First, COM must align FEUM GHG targets with the SBTi emissions trajectory consistent with the Paris Agreement environmental goals. Second, setting higher and additional RFNBO sub-targets is vital to ensure clarity for fuel suppliers and fuel prices. Third, harsher penalties for noncompliance with GHG limits and RFNBO sub-targets could discourage the ‘pay-tocomply’ “solution” that some operators might find more financially convenient than switching to sustainable fuels. Fourth, cargo and passenger vessels under GT 5,000, along with offshore and other non-cargo vessels, should be included in FEUM. Fifth, the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation in the Fit for 55 package should remove the LNG bunkering infrastructure mandate and replace it with mandates for more sustainable fuels such as ammonia or methanol.

Sixth, the RFNBO supply target in RED III must be mandatory – to ensure the supply of sustainable fuels in European ports. Lastly, introducing energy efficiency requirements in shipping would lower total fuel demand and ease the transition.

Summing up, FuelEU Maritime certainly aspires to represent a multifaceted approach to addressing environmental and economic challenges in the maritime sector while contributing to broader EU and global sustainability objectives. However, in its current form, the legislation falls short of ensuring that Europe becomes independent of fossil fuels beyond 2050, according to T&E. As a matter of fact, the NGO stresses that FEUM, as it is, encourages the uptake of fossil LNG, fails to guarantee demand for RFNBOs, and does not set the sector on a Paris Agreement-compatible trajectory.

5/2023 | Baltic Transport Journal | 47

”

Digitalization creates safe, green and efficient intelligence for ports of the future.

Port of Kaskinen (Kaskisten satama) is located on the western coast of Finland, in the Gulf of Bothnia. It is one of the most important Finnish exporting ports for sawn timber and pulp, and it is also specialised in handling chemical industry products and bulk cargo.

The Port of Kaskinen handles over 1 million tons of goods annually.

WWW.PORTOFKASKINEN.FI

REPORT

Baltic bulk market in 2022

by Marek Błuś and Przemysław Myszka The Russian war was probably the singular factor influencing our region’s bulk trade last year. First, the Russians kept supplying the partners they were left trading with – and did so at an increased pace to at least try to stitch the spread between demand and lower commodity prices. The liquid bulk figures for Ust-Luga and Primorsk do all the talking (making up in excess for the losses noted by St. Petersburg and Vysotsk). The economic situation in the Baltic Sea region in 2022 wasn’t all that bad, so tankers continued calling the regional seaports, although from other than Russia directions. The Baltic large-scale LNG terminals in Świnoujście and Klaipėda also earned their corn by pushing out Russian gas from the region’s grids. At the same time, turning away from Russian coal added to dry bulk imports, with Poland being the prime example as the country scrambled to take in by sea as much coal as possible before the 2022/2023 winter (with Gdańsk almost doubling its overall dry bulk turnover). Then again, Lithuania’s seaport was heavily hit by the disappearance of Belarusian fertilisers previously going over its quays.

5/2023 | Baltic Transport Journal | 49

REPORT Tab. 1. Baltic Sea region’s (BSR) ports’ bulk turnover in 2021-2022 (thousand tonnes)1

1

№

Country

2022

2021

yoy

1 2 5 3 4 8 6 7 9

Russia Sweden Poland Finland Denmark Latvia Lithuania Estonia Germany

219,100 84,647 80,519 61,900 56,314 34,287 26,611 19,780 16,421 599,579

209,730 84,529 58,416 59,520 54,535 28,379 37,289 21,420 17,329 571,147

+4.5% +0.1% +37.8% +4.0% +3.3% +20.8% -28.6% -7.7% -5.2% +5.0%

Country’s share of total bulk 2022 2021 2022-2021 36.54% 36.72% -0.18% 14.12% 14.80% -0.68% 13.43% 10.23% +3.20% 10.32% 10.42% -0.10% 9.39% 9.55% -0.16% 5.72% 4.97% +0.75% 4.44% 6.53% -2.09% 3.30% 3.75% -0.45% 2.74% 3.03% -0.30%

Share of country’s grand total 2022 2021 2022-2021 89.25% 81.11% +8.14% 50.31% 50.26% +0.05% 67.68% 60.42% +7.26% 58.09% 57.38% +0.70% 57.94% 57.86% +0.08% 71.32% 68.00% +3.31% 65.65% 74.95% -9.31% 59.33% 54.36% +4.97% 28.77% 28.58% +0.18%

All tabs.: only Russian and German Baltic ports; all Danish ports; Russia – estimated

Tab. 2. BSR’s ports that handled over 1.0mt of bulk cargo in 2022 – total, liquid, and dry (thousand tonnes) Total bulk №

Country Port

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

RU RU PL FI SE PL RU LT SE RU

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

LV LV PL DE LT EE EE SE DK

20

DK-SE

21

DK

22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35

FI RU LV FI DK FI FI SE SE DK SE SE SE DK

Ust-Luga Primorsk Gdańsk Sköldvik Gothenburg Szczecin-Świnoujście St. Petersburg Klaipėda Brofjorden Vysotsk Top 10 Riga Ventspils Gdynia Rostock Būtingė Sillamäe Tallinn Luleå Statoil-havnen Copenhagen-Malmö (CMP) ADP (FredericiaNyborg-Middelfart) HaminaKotka Kaliningrad Liepāja Raahe Aarhus Pori Kokkola Oxelösund Slite Odense Stenungsund Nynäshamn Oljehamn Karlshamn Aalborg

50 | Baltic Transport Journal | 5/2023

Liquid bulk

Dry bulk

2022

2021

yoy

2022

2021

121,000 57,100 46,423 23,865 22,450 21,872 19,000 18,414 17,446 16,000 363,570 15,972 11,914 11,515 10,009 8,197 8,176 8,119 7,645 6,910

112,059 52,999 29,202 19,250 19,484 17,874 20,729 29,298 19,277 16,862 337,034 13,726 8,440 10,599 10,998 7,991 7,683 10,684 7,463 7,563

+8.0% +7.7% +59.0% +24.0% +15.2% +22.4% -8.3% -37.1% -9.5% -5.1% +7.9% +16.4% +41.2% +8.6% -9.0% +2.6% +6.4% -24.0% +2.4% -8.6%

67,000 57,100 25,400 23,367 22,130 10,540 11,000 8,291 17,446 12,000

56,074 52,999 18,577 18,847 19,236 8,034 11,487 6,820 19,277 12,558

Share of the yoy port’s total bulk 2022 +19.5% 55.37% +7.7% 100% +36.7% 54.71% +24.0% 97.91% +15.0% 98.57% +31.2% 48.19% -4.2% 57.89% +21.6% 45.03% -9.5% 100% -4.4% 75.00%

2022

2021

54,000 – 21,023 498 320 11,332 8,000 10,123 – 4,000

55,985 – 10,625 403 248 9,840 9,242 22,478 – 4,304

Share of the port’s total bulk 2022 -3.5% 44.63% – – +97.9% 45.29% +23.6% 2.09% +29.0% 1.43% +15.2% 51.81% -13.4% 42.11% -55.0% 54.97% – – -7.1% 25.00%

1,468 6,771 2,770 3,020 8,197 5,620 5,158 248 6,910

2,269 5,992 3,212 3,210 7,991 5,443 7,180 218 7,563

-35.3% +13.0% -13.8% -5.9% +2.6% +3.3% -28.2% +13.8% -8.6%

9.19% 56.83% 24.06% 30.17% 100% 68.74% 63.53% 3.24% 100%

14,504 5,143 8,745 6,989 – 2,556 2,961 7,397 –

11,457 2,448 7,387 7,788 – 2,240 3,504 7,245 –

+26.6% +110% +18.4% -10.3% – +14.1% -15.5% +2.1% –

90.81% 43.17% 75.94% 69.83% – 31.26% 36.47% 96.76% –

6,520

6,490

+0.5%

3,167

2,808

+12.8%

48.57%

3,353

3,682

-8.9%

51.43%

6,047

5,416

+11.7%

4,597

4,257

+8.0%

76.02%

1,450

1,159

+25.1%

23.98%

6,045 6,000 5,429 5,393 4,769 4,596 4,346 3,882 3,624 2,920 2,827 2,300 2,264 2,136

5,384 6,093 5,270 4,914 4,245 3,216 5,944 3,373 3,072 1,766 2,980 2,300 2,454 2,192

+12.3% -1.5% +3.0% +9.7% +12.3% +42.9% -26.9% +15.1% +18.0% +65.3% -5.1% +/-0% -7.7% -2.6%

2,990 1,500 318 – 1,472 1,139 529 188 – 210 2,827 2,300 1,691 756

2,623 1,474 546 – 1,333 1,352 538 737 – 15 2,980 2,300 1,706 844

+14.0% +1.8% -41.8% – +10.4% -15.8% -1.7% -74.5% – +1,300% -5.1% +/-0% -0.9% -10.4%

49.46% 25.00% 5.86% – 30.87% 24.78% 12.17% 4.84% – 7.19% 100% 100% 74.69% 35.39%

3,055 4,500 5,111 5,393 3,297 3,457 3,817 3,694 3,624 2,710 – – 573 1,380

2,761 4,619 4,724 4,914 2,912 1,864 5,406 2,636 3,072 1,751 – – 748 1,348

+10.6% -2.6% +8.2% +9.7% +13.2% +85.5% -29.4% +40.1% +18.0% +54.8% – – -23.4% +2.4%

50.54% 75.00% 94.14% 100% 69.13% 75.22% 87.83% 95.16% 100% 92.81% – – 25.31% 64.61%

yoy

REPORT Total bulk №

Country Port

36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62

FI DK SE DK SE SE FI DK DK DK FI SE FI FI DK DE SE DK SE DK DE DK DK DK PL DE DK

63

SE-FI

64 65 66

SE DK FI

Naantali Stigsnæs Mälarhamnar Esbjerg Norrköping Gävle Inkoo Aalborg Portland Ensted Aabenraa Uusikaupunki Skellefteå Tornio Helsinki Thyborøn Lübeck-Travemünde Storugns Asnæsverket Vänerhamn Randers Wismar Køge Vordingborg Avedøreværket Police Sassnitz (Mukran) Kolding Kvarken Ports (Umeå-Vaasa) Halland Lolland Havne Oulu

Liquid bulk

Dry bulk

2022

2021

yoy

2022

2021

2,134 2,048 2,046 2,037 2,021 2,004 1,871 1,663 1,650 1,648 1,623 1,613 1,612 1,562 1,449 1,336 1,325 1,315 1,278 1,263 1,236 1,232 1,225 1,224 1,212 1,211 1,126

2,466 2,186 1,950 1,692 2,054 2,248 2,061 2,118 699 1,868 1,852 1,654 1,855 1,376 1,418 1,204 1,147 1,799 1,147 1,409 1,574 930 1,012 1,446 1,357 740 988

-13.5% -6.3% +4.9% +20.4% -1.6% -10.9% -9.2% -21.5% +136% -11.8% -12.4% -2.5% -13.1% +13.5% +2.2% +11.0% +15.5% -26.9% +11.4% -10.4% -21.5% +32.5% +21.0% -15.4% -10.7% +63.6% +14.0%

1,471 2,048 734 447 1,136 1,119 424 – 1,650 78 370 659 171 47 61 20 11 1,143 140 – 4.0 33 – 8.0 112 – 40

1,889 2,186 783 449 1,186 1,383 516 – 699 169 265 698 140 38 88 – 9.0 1,671 147 4.0 – 43 – – 66 – 43

Share of the port’s total bulk 2022 -22.1% 68.93% -6.3% 100% -6.3% 35.87% -0.4% 21.94% -4.2% 56.21% -19.1% 55.84% -17.8% 22.66% – – +136% 100% -53.8% 4.73% +39.6% 22.80% -5.6% 40.86% +22.1% 10.61% +23.7% 3.01% -30.7% 4.21% – 1.50% +22.2% 0.83% -31.6% 86.92% -4.8% 10.95% -100% – – 0.32% -23.3% 2.68% – – – 0.65% +69.7% 9.24% – – -7.0% 3.55%

2022

2021

663 – 1,312 1,590 885 885 1,447 1,663 – 1,570 1,253 954 1,441 1,515 1,388 1,316 1,314 172 1,138 1,263 1,232 1,199 1,225 1,216 1,100 1,211 1,086

577 – 1,167 1,243 868 865 1,545 2,118 – 1,699 1,587 956 1,715 1,338 1,330 1,204 1,138 128 1,000 1,405 1,574 887 1,012 1,446 1,291 740 945

Share of the port’s total bulk 2022 +14.9% 31.07% – – +12.4% 64.13% +27.9% 78.06% +2.0% 43.79% +2.3% 44.16% -6.3% 77.34% -21.5% 100% – – -7.6% 95.27% -21.0% 77.20% -0.2% 59.14% -16.0% 89.39% +13.2% 96.99% +4.4% 95.79% +9.3% 98.50% +15.5% 99.17% +34.4% 13.08% +13.8% 89.05% -10.1% 100% -21.7% 99.68% +35.2% 97.32% +21.0% 100% -15.9% 99.35% -14.8% 90.76% +63.6% 100% +14.9% 96.45%

1,108

799

+38.7% 656

529

+24.0%

59.21%

452

270

+67.4%

1,053 1,007 997

990 678 1,180

+6.4% 395 +48.5% 16 -15.5% 715

398 11 770

-0.8% 37.51% +45.5% 1.59% -7.1% 71.72%

658 991 282

592 667 410

+11.1% 62.49% +48.6% 98.41% -31.2% 28.28%

yoy

yoy

40.79%

Photo: Port of Sillamäe

5/2023 | Baltic Transport Journal | 51

REPORT Tab. 3. BSR’s ports’ liquid bulk turnover in 2021-2022 (thousand tonnes) № 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Country Russia Sweden Poland Finland Denmark Lithuania Estonia Latvia Germany Total

2022 148,600 54,740 38,825 32,300 23,414 16,487 11,610 8,577 3,063 337,616

2021 134,608 56,968 29,890 28,000 22,985 14,811 13,770 8,824 3,224 313,080

yoy +10.4% -3.9% +29.9% +15.4% +1.9% +11.3% -15.7% -2.8% -5.0% +7.8%

Liquid’s share of total Baltic

36.88%

34.29%

+7.5pp

Share 2022 44.01% 16.21% 11.50% 9.57% 6.94% 4.88% 3.44% 2.54% 0.91%

Share 2021 42.99% 18.20% 9.55% 8.94% 7.34% 4.73% 4.40% 2.82% 1.03%

Share 2022-2021 +1.02pp -1.98pp +1.95pp +0.62pp -0.41pp +0.15pp -0.96pp -0.28pp -0.12pp

Tab. 4. BSR’s Top 10 liquid bulk ports in 2022 (thousand tonnes) № 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Country RU RU PL FI SE SE RU RU PL LT

Port Ust-Luga Primorsk Gdańsk Sköldvik Gothenburg Brofjorden Vysotsk St. Petersburg Szczecin-Świnoujście Klaipėda Top 10 Total liquid bulk Top 10’s share

2022 67,000 57,100 25,400 23,367 22,130 17,446 12,000 11,000 10,540 8,291 254,274 337,616 75.31%

2021 56,074 52,999 18,577 18,847 19,236 19,277 12,558 11,487 8,034 6,820 223,909 313,080 71.52%

yoy +19.5% +7.7% +36.7% +24.0% +15.0% -9.5% -4.4% -4.2% +31.2% +21.6% +13.6% +7.8% +3.80pp

Share 2022 26.35% 22.46% 9.99% 9.19% 8.70% 6.86% 4.72% 4.33% 4.15% 3.26%

Share 2021 25.04% 23.67% 8.30% 8.42% 8.59% 8.61% 5.61% 5.13% 3.59% 3.05%

Share 2022-2021 +1.31pp -1.21pp +1.69pp +0.77pp +0.11pp -1.75pp -0.89pp -0.80pp +0.56pp +0.21pp

Photos: Port of Gdańsk

52 | Baltic Transport Journal | 5/2023

REPORT Tab. 5. BSR’s ports’ dry bulk turnover in 2021-2022 (thousand tonnes) № 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Country Russia Poland Denmark Sweden Finland Latvia Germany Lithuania Estonia Total Dry bulk’s share of total

2022 70,500 41,694 32,900 29,907 29,600 25,710 13,358 10,124 8,170 261,963 28.61%

2021 75,122 28,526 31,550 27,561 31,520 19,555 14,105 22,478 7,650 258,067 28.27%

yoy -6.2% +46.2% +4.3% +8.5% -6.1% +31.5% -5.3% -55.0% +6.8% +1.5% +1.2pp

Share 2022 26.91% 15.92% 12.56% 11.42% 11.30% 9.81% 5.10% 3.86% 3.12%

Share 2021 29.11% 11.05% 12.23% 10.68% 12.21% 7.58% 5.47% 8.71% 2.96%

Share 2022-2021 -2.20pp +4.86pp +0.33pp +0.74pp -0.91pp +2.24pp -0.37pp -4.85pp +0.15pp

Tab. 6. BSR’s Top 10 dry bulk ports in 2022 (thousand tonnes) № 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Country RU PL LV PL LT PL RU SE DE FI

Port Ust-Luga Gdańsk Riga Szczecin-Świnoujście Klaipėda Gdynia St. Petersburg Luleå Rostock Raahe Total Total dry bulk Top 10’s share

2022 54,000 21,023 14,504 11,332 10,123 8,745 8,000 7,397 6,989 5,393 147,506 261,963 56.31%

2021 55,985 10,625 11,457 9,840 22,478 7,387 9,242 7,245 7,788 4,914 146,961 258,067 56.95%

yoy -3.5% +97.9% +26.6% +15.2% -55.0% +18.4% -13.4% +2.1% -10.3% +9.7% +0.4% +1.5% -0.64pp

Share 2022 36.61% 14.25% 9.83% 7.68% 6.86% 5.93% 5.42% 5.01% 4.74% 3.66%

Share 2021 38.10% 7.23% 7.80% 6.70% 15.30% 5.03% 6.29% 4.93% 5.30% 3.34%

Share 2022-2021 -1.49pp +7.02pp +2.04pp +0.99pp -8.43pp +0.90pp -0.87pp +0.08pp -0.56pp +0.31pp

5/2023 | Baltic Transport Journal | 53

How to transform dry bulk inventory management with automation and drones

Keeping a weather eye

by Fitzwilliam Scott In the fast-paced and high-stakes world of ports and terminal operations, Tinamu is pioneering the realm of robotics and artificial intelligence (AI)-powered stockpile volumetric measurements. A spinoff from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich (ETH Zürich), the company has introduced a ground-breaking automation workflow that is changing how industries monitor stockpile inventory.

T

raditionally, stockpile volume measurement has been a painstaking and error-prone manual task that has struggled to keep up with the fast-paced dynamics of the industry.

The intricate process of handling cargo in ports and terminals necessitates numerous stages, from sampling and preparation to weighing and final verification — all susceptible to inaccuracies and inefficiencies.

Keeping accurate and up-to-date inventory records is a daily challenge.

Weighbridges, conveyor scales, draught surveys, and the rest of the existing solutions have limitations and rarely deal effectively with the dynamics of ports, terminals, and warehouse operations.

Inspections cannot be done multiple times a week, the same holds for regular humanpiloted drone missions, as both have a high incurred cost and long turnarounds to provide results. This means recency and confidence about the inventory are low, leading to logistical and operational inefficiencies. Plus, the lack of visibility leaves room for fraud.

Up from days down to hours Tinamu’s solution meant to change the game is an AI-powered autonomous drone system that captures high-resolution images of stockpiles, analyses the data, and delivers precise volumetric measurements to the user within a few hours.

Recently selected as one of the TOP 100 Swiss Startups of 2023 (runner-up in the Robotics category), the company’s technology combines autonomous indoor drone 54 | Baltic Transport Journal | 5/2023

navigation, cloud-based and AI-driven data processing, and a user-friendly platform to deliver periodic volume measurements of stockpiles with second to none precision.

As the drones gather data, the information is uploaded to the cloud, processed with AI, and then returned to the user via a web interface, visualised in easily digestible dashboards. These interfaces enable tracking of changes in material distribution, analysis of inventory trends over time, and provision of detailed inventory data for each stockpile surveyed, enhancing monitoring and logistics planning and maximising warehouse utilisation. Additionally, the technology enables early identification and resolution of discrepancies.

This innovation expands the limitations of traditional bulk inventory technology, like weighbridges and conveyor belts, and resolves issues associated with fixed sensors, including fine dust and blind spots.

Where traditional methods take days, Tinamu’s system reduces this to hours. The platform ensures that from the moment the drones take flight, the collected data is swiftly processed and delivered to the client, maximising efficiency and reducing waiting time.

What the company has to offer stands out from other modern solutions due to its minimal capital expenditure during installation. Unlike alternative technologies such as laser imaging, detection and ranging, which necessitate the procurement and installation of numerous sensors and cables, Tinamu’s system is devoid of any cumbersome physical installation processes. This efficiency elevates

its appeal to operators who want to apply a solution quickly, cost-effectively, and at scale.

“I can’t imagine our operations without it” Customers have found that the ease of use, fast data turnaround, and increased accuracy of Tinamu’s automated processes improve 24/7 visibility for end-to-end automatic monitoring and control over warehouse inventories. As a result, companies dealing with dry bulk cargo can leverage the solution to streamline their inventory management, enhance logistics planning, and increase operational efficiency.

KIBAG, one of Switzerland’s largest building material leaders, is a case in point (case video). The company recycles a million tonnes of material each year to be transformed into gravel for construction. Consequently, it’s highly dependent on reliable stock levels and needs to constantly monitor how much free space is available for storage; likewise, inventory for sale.

But like many in the industry, KIBAG was estimating these stockpile volumes visually, with reporting done manually in Excel.

This procedure was both time-consuming and inaccurate, leading to planning and coordination issues that made the system totally unreliable.

Incorporating Tinamu’s solutions into their operations led to a radical improvement in stockpile measurements and a significant boost in operational efficiency. Put simply, the technology inserted trust back into the system. “We push a button, the

REPORT

Photos: Tinamu

drone automatically flies indoors, outdoors, and we get real-time stock data,” says Urs Ficher, Site Manager at KIBAG. “Now that we use Tinamu’s solution, I can’t imagine our operations without it,” he underscores.

Other prominent clients include global inspection companies, an international producer of minerals, and a recently signed deal with Axpo Tegra, Switzerland’s largest wood-fired power plant.

Tinamu also just signed in new clients and a pilot project with one of the world’s largest metal companies. As metals continue to be a vital resource for electrification efforts worldwide, the speed and accuracy of Tinamu’s system offer companies that ship and warehouse these materials a competitive advantage that can be deployed without a lengthy installation process.

Not only does the company’s technology deliver efficiency and accuracy, but it also contributes to a more sustainable world.

By automating the process, human error, waste, and carbon emissions are significantly reduced, leading to better utilisation of resources and safer inspection methods.

Unlocking new possibilities On 11 May 2023, Tinamu announced a technological partnership with the European drone manufacturer Parrot.

This synergistic co-op provides a software layer to transform Parrot’s hardware into autonomous, self-navigating drones

capable of operating in challenging indoor environments, further amplifying the scope and impact of Tinamu’s solutions.

Seamlessly integrated into Tinamu’s indoor monitoring system, the Parrot ANAFI Ai’s robust features (such as 4G connectivity, reliable indoor mission execution, and obstacle avoidance) fit perfectly with Tinamu’s needs. The partnership unlocks new possibilities for service delivery thanks to the ability to upload custom autonomous missions. Tinamu’s proficiency in indoor autonomous flight sets it apart from competitors, and the company’s automation workf low now enables Parrot drones to provide reliable and precise measurements at the push of a button without the need for a pilot.

Tinamu’s innovative approach provides substantial relief for industries frequently constrained by personnel shortages. Beyond the advantages of accuracy, reliability, and error elimination, this highly advanced solution frees up inventory managers to allocate more time to qualitative and strategic activities, thereby enriching the overall operational ecosystem.

The company anticipates improvement in service delivery, enhancing safety, speed, and accuracy, which will substantially improve customer experience. Parrot also echoes these sentiments, marking automation as the future for scaling professional drone usage.

Pushing the boundaries With an operational footprint in several European countries, including Switzerland, Belgium and France, Tinamu is rapidly expanding its reach. The company continually enhances its platform, keeping it ready for technological advancements and adapting to the industry’s changing needs. And its solution works for all types of dry bulk, including minerals, metals, grains, fertilisers, and aggregates.

Tinamu’s vision is to use autonomous drones as flexible sensors, capturing and automatically processing information in the field. Based on its existing volume measurement solution and platform, the company foresees the addition of new sensors and monitoring capabilities. By creating a new way to do periodic stockpile monitoring, Tinamu is pushing the boundaries of the supply chain for the better.

Tinamu, an ETH Zürich’s spin-off, develops a turnkey solution for drone-based inspection automation that consists of a dashboard that visualises relevant information, analytics software running on a secured cloud, and the drone system connected to a communication network. Real-time insights are directly delivered to the asset owners. Fly to tinamu.com to discover more.

5/2023 | Baltic Transport Journal | 55

Proactive. Flexible. Resilient.

How can ports present such features in times of great challenges?

Over 100 participants gathered for the annual Baltic Ports Conference. This year’s event, hosted by the Port of Ystad, took us to the lovely town in southern Sweden, where the discussions focused mainly on what is necessary for the regional seaport sector to remain proactive and resilient in times characterised by a wide range of challenges.

T

he welcoming speeches clarified that mutual support and cooperation are pivotal for success. For ports, not only in the Baltic Sea region (BSR), to play a crucial role in Europe’s future, the sector must embrace the spirit of sharing. Be it knowledge, best practices, ideas or experiences, both good and bad, exchanging these will build the foundation of a solid and resilient maritime community and, by extension, Europe.

The challenges to tackle are indeed many and linked to the main macroeconomic trends that will shape trade in Europe in the near future, as outlined in the presentation by Indra Vonck (MTBS).

ESPO and CLECAT representatives stressed the importance of funding to support the port sector to play a significant role in combating climate change.

Adapting to change Resilience and competitive potential were further discussed in a segment joined

by FEPORT, CBSS and CINEA panellists.

Crisis multi-tasking may be the key to survival in this new landscape, an approach characterised by agile planning supported by shared knowledge and willingness to cooperate – a call back to some of the opening words of this year’s conference.

Other drivers governing the development of the seaport sector were also touched upon in a presentation by Bogdan Ołdakowski (Baltic Ports Organization), who glimpsed into the future and tried to divine where the regional port industry might find itself in the next decade.

Near- and friend-shoring appeared on various occasions during the sessions and then further elaborated upon by representatives from the ports of Helsinki, Klaipėda and Tallinn.

56 | Baltic Transport Journal | 5/2023

So, about the ro-ro and ferry market…

Ewelina Ziajka (Actia Forum) presented statistics on ferry and ro-ro shipping as it is a central market for the BSR and one that is also very sensitive to geopolitical and economic shifts.

The growth in vessel size was the subject of discussion between the representatives of the ports of Karlshamn and Rostock. An example of a seaport that made great strides in expanding its ferry services over the last couple of years was Liepāja, as presented in a case study. … and on the tech side of things…

Jon Lane (RightShip), whose company’s goal is a zero-harm maritime industry, showed the audience how data and digital tools can reduce in-port vessel emissions and prepare for a carbon-neutral 2050.

The tech side of things was further augmented by Sandra Jansson and Dan Steinnes (Grieg Connect) sharing with the participants how to go from port call planning to optimisation of internal and external resources. … plus focusing on climate change The conference’s second day was the perfect backdrop for signing the BPO Ystad Climate Declaration because the main topic was the impact of climate change on port development.

Elisabeth Munck af Rosenschöld (IKEA Supply Chain Operations) outlined her company’s approach to decarbonisation: a 70% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions on average per every transport mode by 2030 and an 80% decrease in absolute emissions from warehousing.

Compliance with the increasingly important environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) requirements made an appearance on the agenda, too, regarding its potential effects on the

competitiveness of the European maritime sector. According to Zofia Roguska (EY), the shipping sector’s ESG performance will fall under even greater scrutiny from financial institutions and business partners.

Various other costs of combating climate change, a process inextricably linked to the need for expensive investments, were discussed by representatives of the seaport sector, hailing from the ports of Gdynia, Oslo and Stockholm.

An electrifying finish Björn Boström (Port of Ystad) shared his thoughts on the ways to optimise the benefits of investing in onshore power supply (OPS). The topic was taken further in a panel featuring representatives from EOPSA, the Port of Hamburg Marketing and the Port of Ventspils, who discussed the need to plan when deciding on the placement of OPS installations and whether it will remain viable in the next one or two decades.

Ingemar Gustavsson (Actemium) went into more technical details on the issue, sharing his company’s approach to delivering shore electricity to berthing vessels.

Guido Gommer (Wabtec) had the honour to close the programme, presenting the HYPOBATT project on fast-charging ships, perfectly in line with the electric theme of the session.

The event culminated in a bus tour of the Port of Ystad, where the participants could, among other things, see the black and grey water treatment systems of Marinfloc in action.

The next edition of the Baltic Ports Conference will take us to Klaipėda, where we will meet on 4-6 September 2024.

The Organisers would like to thank the partners – Actemium, GISGRO, Grieg Connect, Marinfloc, RightShip and Wabtec – for making the event a possibility!

The BPO Ystad Climate Declaration – signed at the Baltic Ports Conference 2023

The Baltic Ports Organization (BPO) Ystad Climate Declaration was signed early in the morning on 8 September 2023 by the Members of the Organization, gathered for the General Assembly during the second day of the Baltic Ports Conference 2023 in Ystad.

Photo: Tom Wall

W

ith the European Green Deal and the adoption of various associated initiatives, such as the Fit for 55 package, the European Commission (COM) has set the course towards a climate-neutral European Union. The push for greening of maritime transport, both in Europe and on a global scale, further underscored by the recent approval of the latest edition of the International Maritime Organization’s GHG Strategy, is one of the defining factors shaping the future of the seaborne transport sector.

Recognising the essential role seaports need to play to achieve the climate goals placed before the maritime community, Members of the BPO declared their readiness to put forth the best effort to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from

port activities, inspire environmental consciousness and cooperate with business partners and a wide range of stakeholders to protect the climate.

The BPO Ystad Climate Declaration supports the plan formulated by the COM. At the same time, the signatories would like to emphasise the need for a practical and rational approach, combined with transparent dialogue between the maritime industry and policymakers, as crucial for making a carbon-neutral Europe a reality.

The goals must be achievable, with clearly outlined targets and providing the required financial and legislative backing.

The Baltic ports’ environmental protection and climate responsibility achievements are worth bringing up here as they position the Baltic Sea region (BSR) as a role model for green transport. Examples

include onshore power supply (OPS) and alternative fuels, including, among others, hydrogen, ammonia and methanol, used

by Baltic ports and their partners. Many Members of the Organization have set their own GHG emission reduction or even zero-emission goals, going beyond those proposed by international bodies.

The document also mentions the recent initiative of BPO – Baltic Ports for Climate – aimed at further developing and constructing OPS facilities in ports located in the BSR, expanding the existing network. However, the authors point out that, for now, OPS usage on a broader scale is hindered by the lack of uniformity between the ashore grids and electric installations on ships. The solution is further standardisation, which requires collaboration.

BALTIC PORTS ORGANIZATION • Secretariat Office – Actia Forum Ltd. ul. Pułaskiego 8, 81-368 Gdynia, POLAND, ph.: +48 58 627 24 67, fax: +48 58 627 24 27, e-mail: bpo.office@actiaforum.pl, bpo.sg@actiaforum.pl, www.bpoports.com 5/2023 | Baltic Transport Journal | 57

Applying AI-powered data technology to benchmark ESG performance and tackle EU ETS challenges for shipping

The new green currency

by Steve Marshall Regulatory requirements and competitive pressure drive the accelerating trend towards sustainability in shipping. The ability to benchmark fleet performance against key environmental, social & corporate governance (ESG) metrics will be vital for future commercial success in an increasingly green-focused market, according to maritime data and technology firm OceanScore.

“

While many shipping companies are promoting ESG strategies to raise their profile in the market, this needs to be supported by reliable, trustworthy and transparent data that enables stakeholders to make commercial decisions based on actual fleet performance,” says Albrecht Grell, Co-Managing Director of OceanScore.

He also believes that whereas price and profitability have previously been the fundamental determinants of charter awards, financing and investments, ESG data represents the new green currency that will determine value creation for shipping companies as we advance amid stricter regulations and commercial pressure.

“There are increasing demands from banks, financial institutions and investors for ESG data to inform their decision-making as well as from charterers and cargo owners, underpinned by market initiatives such as the Poseidon Principles for banks and Sea Cargo Charter for bulk ship charterers geared to decarbonising the entire supply chain of shipping,” notes Grell.

Trustworthy and transparent data Recognising this need, the Hamburgbased OceanScore has built a digital platform that monitors the performance of the entire global fleet of 125,000 commercial 58 | Baltic Transport Journal | 5/2023

vessels, enabling diverse industry stakeholders to benchmark ship operations against sustainability goals.

The artificial intelligence (AI)-powered platform uses proprietary engineering algorithms and advanced regression models to analyse data from multiple sources, including the EU’s MRV (Monitoring, Reporting and Verification) and other reported vessel data.

As well as comprehensively tracking emissions (CO2 , SOX, NOX, and particulate matter), the platform records a further 50 ESG scores around vessel safety and reliability, environmental performance and adherence to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

These include, for example, wage levels for crew and vessel safety incidents.

Grell says OceanScore is working with Scope Ratings, Europe’s leading rating agency, to validate its scores independently. “This is part of the platform’s transparency policy to ensure objective, unbiased and high-quality data that can be trusted,” he explains.

Therefore, its data provide a sound basis for decision-making for ship managers, cargo owners, ports, banks, investors, insurers, protection & indemnity clubs, and other stakeholders. The platform is also designed to facilitate collaboration and data-sharing

among industry players, providing a single source of verified data visible to all parties for tracking vessel and ship managers’ sustainability.

Higher level of accountability Grell says a major concern for the industry is the inclusion of shipping into the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) from next year. This event will impose a higher level of emission accountability for companies extending beyond annual reporting under the existing MRV regime, with the risk of heavy financial penalties or even expulsion from EU trading in the event of non-compliance.

This means shipping companies will be required to acquire and trade so-called EU Allowances (EUAs), or carbon credits, to cover the cost of their emissions in a given year, which could leave them with huge financial liabilities given a current market price of around €90 per tonne of CO2 emitted.

OceanScore’s Co-Managing Director Ralf Garrn explains that the regulation poses issues such as how to accurately monitor emissions, how to acquire and trade EUAs, which trading platform to use, how to achieve the best price, how many EUAs should be purchased, and who should pay for carbon credits. “With the clock ticking

TECHNOLOGY the new regulation and mitigate financial risk due to the requirement to purchase carbon credits to cover the cost of emissions, which will reach €8 billion or more annually,” he calculates.

Grell furthers, “The interplay between owners, managers and charterers creates significant complexities unique to shipping and poses potentially significant risks, especially for ship managers, if not managed properly. Excel alone will not be sufficient to maintain transparency and control of these processes.” He says OceanScore’s comprehensive solution, characterised by a high level of automation to reduce administrative workload and issues with wrong data entries, is geared to “simplifying complexity” for shipping companies to help them navigate the difficult path to EU ETS compliance.

“Harnessing the power of new AI-driven technology to process vast volumes of vessel data will be vital to enable shipping to meet market and regulatory challenges in the relentless green shift for decarbonisation of the industry,” Grell continues. Moreover, he highlights, “OceanScore can also function as a one-stop shop for stakeholders such as ports that need to determine the emission levels of multiple vessels from different ship owners and managers or cargo owners that need to assess the carbon footprint of different fleets to ensure they remain within their sustainability targets.”

Photos: OceanScore

to implementation of the EU ETS, shipping companies need to understand the practical implications and initiate efficient systems to address these issues and ensure compliance. A solid monitoring solution, properly covering the many different options to deal with the ETS regime, is a necessity given the complexities of shipping and the ETS regulation,” Garrn advises.

Therefore, in a further evolution of the platform, OceanScore has launched an integrated solution that enables ship operators to both manage emission liabilities and trade carbon credits under the impending EU ETS regime for shipping.

The web-based ETS Manager is designed to manage and monitor the entire process from automatically ingesting vessel operational data, assessing the need for EUAs, allocating them to owners or stakeholders, requesting and accounting for them, and tracking open positions. The solution incorporates the advanced trading tool EUA Trader, powered by RWE Supply &

Trading, to buy and sell EUAs (also available as a standalone application).

EUA Trader tracks the market price of EUAs and facilitates the buying and selling of carbon credits on the RWE Supply & Trading platform through a simple operation that is fully integrated into OceanScore’s ETS management platform, with the ability to buy incremental volumes as needed and forward trading flexibility to hedge the risk of price changes.

Grell says the ETS Manager is rapidly gaining traction among European and non-European clients ahead of the threeyear phased implementation of the EU ETS from 1 January 2024, with OceanScore investor Döhle Group among several pilot customers. “The industry faces a major challenge to navigate the complexity of

A high level of confidence OceanScore recently gained a strong endorsement for its solution with an oversubscribed seed funding round that saw several high-profile investors commit capital for expansion of the platform, including global container shipping giant MSC as well as the Döhle Group, the Schoeller family (shareholders in Columbia Shipmanagement and Scope Ratings), TecPier, and Israel’s theDOCK. MSC’s Group President Diego Aponte comments, “We have decided to leverage OceanScore to provide better visibility on the environmental and broader sustainability performance of ships in our fleet.” New investor theDOCK’s Nir Gartzman adds, “OceanScore’s analyses are predicated on advanced data science and deep engineering expertise to provide effective decisionsupport tools to optimise sustainable fleet management. This gives us a high level of confidence in its solution.”

OceanScore is a Hamburg-based provider of sustainability data and compliance solutions with a strong maritime background. The company offers a range of ESG solutions tailored to the industry’s unique needs. Click oceanscore.com to learn more.

5/2023 | Baltic Transport Journal | 59

Technology for efficient terminal operations and greater customer & employee satisfaction

Helping the winners of the future

by Jaana Niemi In August 2023, Nortal, a multinational digital transformation and strategic change company that has been digitalising ports for more than 20 years, announced cooperation with MODI, an international leader from Germany in biometrical vision and entrance solutions. This partnership means a leap forward to providing a groundbreaking passenger experience across European and North American ports.

N

ortal has extensive experience bringing the port, ferry, cruise and maritime cargo sectors on board the digital revolution. The Smart Port solution – the company’s innovative answer to streamlined port management – blends service design, data, the Internet of Things (IoT), and automation to redefine interactions from digital environments to physical contact points in terminals.

Staying relevant and efficient The Smart Port solution includes terminal management and gate operating systems, a digital check-in, and terminal automation components – an overall setup built and continuously developed based on market feedback and needs. Nortal has successfully implemented its solutions in more than 15 Baltic seaports.

Among many, the Smart Port system has improved efficiency and brought significant environmental savings at the Port of Tallinn: a 44% reduction in waiting times during check-in & boarding and a 95% faster passthrough rate in automated lanes (max two seconds), resulting in shorter turnaround times for ferry operators. The system also brought about a 75% reduction in terminal 60 | Baltic Transport Journal | 5/2023

operational staff (check-in and marshalling); very high passenger and employee satisfaction; comprehensive real-time access to terminal data (personalised for different internal and external stakeholders); and optimal use of terminal space (e.g., serving several parallel operators and departures and the ability to add additional departures).

The results are achieved through a ‘factory-like’ system that automatically collects all traveller and vehicle data without stopping (including license plate numbers, vehicle weight & dimensions, and the like).

The system also guides traffic through the terminal more efficiently and sustainably by using IoT-controlled automatic gates, traffic lights and screens. It also dynamically adjusts the terminal space to fit the loading requirements of the next vessel, and precisely sorts the vehicles into various loading groups as requested by the ferry operator.

“We see ports struggling with lack of efficiency, poor passenger experience, meeting sustainability goals and getting on track with the data game in our everyday work,” says Kadri Haufe, Head of Smart Port Advisory at Nortal. She furthers, “Uncertain volumes development coupled with a highly competitive landscape requires ports to keep adapting to

stay relevant and efficient. The winners of the future will be the most efficient players.”

Flowing freely Nortal is continuously looking for opportunities to support and future-proof ports. While the company has a hardwareagnostic software solution that can easily integrate with legacy and most modern solutions, it prefers best-in-class, proven and tested technology that brings real value to the process. “Cooperating with MODI fits these principles perfectly. We aim to help ports achieve high-level efficiency, provide excellent customer experience, and meet their sustainability goals.

Cooperation with MODI supports each of those elements,” underlines Haufe.

MODI, Nortal’s cooperation partner, has specialised in biometric systems and identity validation tools for commercial and government applications worldwide for over two decades. MODI Vision has developed a free-flow, on-the-move facial recognition with a unique, patented camera technology (currently the most innovative technology in terms of speed, resolution, and image quality). “After we introduced the Paperless Airport already years ago, MODI GmbH is now focusing strongly on the port of the

TECHNOLOGY

Photo: Nortal

Photo: Kaupo Kalda

future. MODI, in collaboration with Nortal, will carry out this necessary development for the maritime industry in the digital age,” shares Dieter Klawunder, CEO of MODI. He also notes, “The biometric facial recognition offers several advantages, including a much more convenient boarding process for passengers. Verifying passport data and secure identification also significantly enhance security and improves flow at the border control points in the ports.”

Nortal and MODI have developed an initial concept with integrated biometric facial recognition for ferry ports and cruise terminals. For passengers and drivers, this solution would first mean enrolling their biometric information (taking a selfie) and

verifying their travel documents before arriving at the port, then just passing the identity verification control cameras in free flow (i.e., without stopping for verification).

If the pre-enrolment is done and the passenger is recognised, there’s no additional activity required for identity verification at the port – neither from passengers nor from staff. This is a revolutionary upgrade from the technology we’re starting to see

in bigger airports, which requires standing in a precise location and looking into a single camera.

The Nortal-MODI solution will be used for foot passengers, vehicles, and staff entrance controls. The solution will most benefit frequent travellers who can use the same enrolment over extended periods (e.g., six months). In case the individual does not have a chance to pre-enrol home or on borders with specific security standards, the option will be present in the terminal in the form of self-service kiosks.

From the technical perspective, this system involves a specialised camera, a user interface for enrolments, a matching backend for identity verification, and integrations with the Smart Port system.

The joint offering will allow ports to provide a seamless passenger experience and achieve high efficiency by removing manual information processing for passengers and cargo. Both companies are confident that their combined product portfolio and digital concepts will establish the port of the future as highly secure, smart, and passenger-friendly.

Nortal is a fast-growing, impact-driven global company and a strategic partner for governments, healthcare institutions, the maritime industry, leading businesses, and Fortune 500 companies. With a solid physical presence in North America, Europe and the Middle East, plus an international talent pool, the company can shape tailored ecosystems and future solutions that are human, data-driven, and safe. Go to nortal.com/smart-port-solution to learn more.

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The importance of data strategy in terminal operations

Measuring what matters

by Chad Van Derrick, VP, Software Product Management, Tideworks Technology Terminals are continually pressured to increase the efficiency of how goods are moved. As such, operators must be able to obtain and leverage insight from data quickly to make decisions that impact their business and customers. But how can this be done when terminals often lack the infrastructure and resources necessary to sort through terabytes of data, the majority of which could change several times within a day? The secret lies in creating a well-formed data strategy that can inform decisionmaking and ensure smooth operations across ports and the broader supply chain.

T

he big buzzword that comes across most frequently when I speak with customers is “optimization.”

“We want to optimize.” “Your software should optimize our operations for us.” “We want to be fully optimized within the next five years.”

But what does this actually mean? What stands behind “to optimize your terminal’s operations?” Because each facility operates differently, and because they are unique snowflakes per se, their definition of optimization and data strategies need to be unique.

A data strategy is a framework that a terminal develops to effectively manage, use, and leverage its data assets to achieve business objectives. Some of these are tactical, like keeping gate turn times below a certain threshold, while others are strategic, such as minimizing unproductive moves to maximize margin. A good data strategy outlines business goals and offers a comprehensive roadmap for how a terminal should use and share its data across the organization and with customers and vendors.

As I write this, a copy of John Doerr’s Measure What Matters is staring at me from my bookcase. In this seminal tome, he introduces the concept of Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) for setting clear and measurable objectives across the organization, providing alignment, transparency, 62 | Baltic Transport Journal | 5/2023

accountability, adaptability, and perhaps most importantly, focus. A good data strategy starts here, identifying what matters, why it matters, and with what frequency decisions on that data need to be made.

The right data, at the right time, in the right place Terminals are swimming in transactional data. This type of data records specific interactions or events, such as a gate-in, a container’s location, or equipment move instructions. This information matters in the moment and can be used to guide hourto-hour, day-to-day operations.

Compare this to master data, core information about vessels, berths, equipment, terminal layout, customers, employees, and container data like the number, owner, type, and status. Master data is pretty stable; it doesn’t change frequently, compared to transactional data like a container’s location, which could change daily.

There are other data types, but let’s keep it simple and start there. So, the big question is whether these types of data are suitable for analytics. The assumption I see many terminals make is “yes.”

And with that, they start building data warehouses to gather all of the information that the terminal produces, hoping it will eventually lead to some insights.

It is a fair assumption, and companies in other industries started with this same assumption many years ago. Still, they quickly learned it was a costly, time-consuming affair that produced minimal results. Why? It ignored Doerr’s advice: measure what matters.

Analytical data is structured specifically for analysis and reporting. Analytical data is what belongs in a data warehouse, and through its specific data lineage, it is the data used to compute it. Doesn’t this mean all data? Absolutely not! It’s only the data that matters to that specific terminal – that the terminal is using to make decisions.

The best data initiatives start simple, are time-boxed, and are tied to a specific, measurable business outcome. Resist the temptation to boil the ocean; start small and get results – fast. In this way, a terminal optimizes its operations, one OKR at a time.

The value of real-time data – and a warning about AI A data strategy often relies on real-time data to provide accurate and timely information on events happening throughout a terminal. Real-time data becomes available as events unfold with a few seconds of minimal delay. It is a valuable measure in a data strategy because it gives insight into recent and present events and helps organizations anticipate future moves.

TECHNOLOGY

Photo: Canva

And there’s the gazillion-dollar data strategy word: anticipate. So, let’s talk about Artificial Intelligence, or AI, those two enchanting letters representing the magical black box for quick and easy optimization. Where does AI fit into a terminal’s data strategy?

While AI can certainly uncover hidden insights in large data sets and apply predictive analytics and machine learning models to forecast trends and outcomes, it should be considered a piece of your strategy but in no way a substitution for it. A magic bullet is just that, magic, and without the work to identify OKRs, your various types of data and its lineage, and then applying the people, processes, and systems to govern that data, ensuring its quality and integrity, your AI initiative is sure to fail.

We have all heard the adage ‘garbage in, garbage out,’ and so without an effective data strategy already in place, how could you possibly trust in the results of AI? For any strategy to succeed, there must be rules and processes: cue data governance, one of the critical steps in defining your data strategy.

Creating a data strategy Terminals can begin by following six key steps to optimize their data assets and implement a data strategy effectively.

First, organizations must have a firm understanding of their business objectives and ensure that their data strategy aligns with these goals. This alignment makes sure the organizations directly tie their data strategy in a way that aligns with how their business runs and how they interact with customers, partners, and the broader supply chain.

Second, connecting with technology providers and key decision-makers is important to understand existing philosophies. Including them in the data strategy will make sense because it will likely benefit and optimize how their solutions serve the business and its customers.

The next step involves assessing the organization’s current state of the data itself and data management. This assessment entails identifying any organizational issues, such as data inconsistencies or duplications. A thorough evaluation of existing data use and management will help uncover potential challenges that might obstruct data utilization. These challenges include data silos, where valuable information is not easily shared or accessible across the organization, hindering collaboration and decision-making, and workflow challenges, where there are difficulties when designing, implementing, or optimizing the processes and steps involved in handling, transforming, and analyzing data.

Fourth, following the data assessment, organizations must create and implement data governance practices that will be utilized throughout the organization’s data strategy.

A data governance framework will ensure that all data is secure, compliant, and high-quality.

Fifth, the terminal’s data strategy is taking shape at this point. Now, the terminal can create an implementation roadmap, defining how and when it will enhance its business strategy with data and equip its various teams with a tactical approach to managing current and future data streams and avoiding common challenges in data management.

The last step in implementing a data strategy is the assignment of ownership for each aspect of the data. This step entails designating individuals responsible for various stages of the data process, ensuring accountability, effective management and consistency throughout the data lifecycle.

Empowered A well-structured data strategy, rooted in real-time data and clearly defined practices, empowers terminals to make informed, timely and secure decisions.

A data strategy can help terminal operators use existing technology resources to address congestion and capacity changes where access to timely and standardized data is essential. With a cohesive data strategy, companies can harness the power of data to meet short- and long-term goals and adapt to evolving industry dynamics.

Tideworks, a Carrix solution, is a full-service provider of comprehensive terminal operating system solutions for growing marine and intermodal terminal operations worldwide. The company helps more than 120 facilities run their operations more efficiently and profitably. From optimized equipment utilization to faster turn times, Tideworks works at every step of terminal operations to maximize productivity and customer service. Visit tideworks.com to learn more.

5/2023 | Baltic Transport Journal | 63

The Port of Antwerp-Bruges-FIT’s seminar in Poznań

For trade, the environment, and rail traffic

by Przemysław Myszka The Port of Antwerp-Bruges, for one and a half years now uniting the two Belgian ports, and Flanders Investment & Trade (FIT), a Flemish public agenda tasked with promoting Flanders-based businesses, welcomed a few dozen of their partners and friends from across the European transport & logistics sector to central-west Poland on 8 October 2023. The meeting updated everybody on the companies' works, at the same time highlighting what northern Belgium can do to help bolster intermodal rail traffic, particularly on the Poland-UK corridor.

T

he seminar – skillfully arranged and run by the Port of Antwerp-Bruges’ International Network Team’s Martin Hubenak (CEE Port Representative) and Sofie Vollekindt (Regional Coordinator) – got rolling with the welcoming speech by H.E. Rik Van Droogenbroeck, Ambassador of Belgium to Poland, who underscored his country’s logistics credentials, which included ranking 7th in the 2023 edition of the World Bank Logistics Performance Index. He also underlined Belgium’s in general and Antwerp and Zeebrugge’s in particular efforts to green their activities. Ambassador Van Droogenbroeck mentioned Antwerp’s ambition of becoming climate-neutral by mid-century, likewise, the facilitating role the two ports will play in making Belgium more sustainable, among others, by becoming hydrogen import hubs for producing e-methanol on the spot using liquefied carbon dioxide captured from regional industries.

Lieve Duprez, Shortsea Key Account Manager at the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, picked up this theme, explaining that the primary rationale behind merging the two port authorities was fostering the green transition.

At the same time, she stressed, Antwerp and Zeebrugge will continue doing what they

Photos: Port of Antwerp-Bruges

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are best known for, respectively, turnover of heavy-duty industrial flows of dry and liquid bulk and taking care of ro-ro cargo and finished vehicle logistics (FVL; with Antwerp being the world’s second biggest petrochemical cluster and Zeebrugge – the largest FVL harbour worldwide). The duo will naturally carry on handing millions of containers annually, the second largest number in Europe.

Next on the stage was Barbara Libera, Trade and Investment Commissioner from FIT, who encouraged listeners to do business with Flanders (better still, there!).

The Flemish agency vows to help its partners internationalise their enterprises, including those from the transport and logistics industry. Libera presented five Business Scenarios Logistics depending on the provided assistance’s breadth and depth (such as investment/market intelligence or legal advice).

As a case in point, Barbara EdelmullerGeneraux from Batim Transport, a trucking company headquartered in southern Poland, presented her company’s investment in a trucker base in Menen in West Flanders. The facility not only comprises the bare essentials of such infrastructure, like secure parking

places (80), but it goes a few extra miles for the company’s drivers to feel as comfortable as possible. As such, the Menen base offers sleeping quarters, a kitchen, a gym, a billiard parlour, bicycles, and more. Investments like this, emphasised Edelmuller-Generaux, are quintessential in times of nagging trucker shortage. The seminar’s presentation part was closed by Ziemowit Kierkowski, Sales Director at PCC Intermodal. He presented the company’s network of Europe-wide intermodal rail connections, among which was the five-times-per-week Antwerp-Poland one.

The seminar was topped with a discussion panel that put the limelight on all the hurdles of getting more volumes on rails between Poland and the UK for crossing the English Channel and North Sea by ship in Belgium.

The panellists comprised Justin Atkin, the Port of Antwerp-Bruge’s Representative UK & Ireland, Iwona Skurzewska, Director of Sales with the CLIP Group, Sławomir Nowakowski, Head of Logistics at Chem International Group and Chem Trading’s Board Member, and Henryk Kałużny, Freight Manager Poland & Eastern Europe at P&O Ferries. The debate was moderated by Sebastian Wróbel, representing the ETA.fm podcast.

EVENTS

Like in trucking, the rail industry is overshadowed by the lack of locomotive drivers – training of whom is long and expensive as an added insult to injury. Another issue is securing enough demand to form an open block train of nearly 40 transport units – hardly a single cargo owner can regularly supply such volume; therefore, getting many shippers on board is critical. That is, in and of itself, another challenge, as different players can have various requirements, and it may be tricky to tick them off with one offering. This stumbling block can be further aggravated by the sometimes questionable timetable reliability of rail transportation, a factor

that well-disposed intermodal operators can have little influence over when, e.g., a rail infrastructure manager keeps on modernising a particular section of the network for, it seems, eternity or an accident occurs (like when a coal train set rips apart in the middle of a single track – an event that significantly delayed my passenger train on the way back to Gdynia). Next, the Poland-UK trade flow is chiefly served by trucks, and not every trailer is cranable (and not every terminal has the equipment to load them directly from the siding/ yard level). And, of course, there is also the king, namely the price, which still reigns powerfully amidst the calls for greater sustainability.

The panel discussion’s members agreed that there’s room for a noticeable road-to-rail shift between the Polish and British markets – and it’s more than doable. Changing the status quo will, however, require connecting many dots, some outside the transport and logistics players’ authority. That is, it appears, one of the out-of-the-box jobs stakeholders such as the Port of Antwerp-Bruges must play – voicing the industry’s potential to the ones that can make the decisions that can make a dent in the otherwise beaten track of choosing trucks over locomotives for panEuropean transportation of wheeled cargo.

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TRANSPORT MISCELLANY

An elegant farewell Many cities said “goodbye” to their shipbuilding yards but no one so beautifully like the Danish Helsingør. The old shipyard building is decorated by a modern glass & steel façade. The Culture Yard houses the Shipyard Museum, a public library, and a cultural centre, among others.

Another former production hall hosts exhibitions, performances, festivals, and similar events. If you visit this place, do not miss a dry dock close to the Kronborg Castle because it hides the entrance to the M/S Maritime Museum of Denmark – located underground! Walking the city centre, kindly choose Kongensgade Street to admire two neighbouring Photos: Marek Błuś murals – The Shipyard Era painted in the socialist realism style by the American Garin Baker and an allegoric History of Shipping by Oriol C. Martinez from Spain and Piercarlo Carella from Italy. Depicting labour and the working class often brings an artist closer to a manner of propaganda posters with their bias for monumentalism and heroism. Then again, ports & ships can indeed be monumental and heroic!

An original replica To build a ‘flying replica’ of a Farman III, you do not need that much – perhaps a specious shed or garage, some quality wood, canvas, screws, and a bit of craftsman (or craftlady!) skills. This particular aircraft’s blueprints were published in 1909 by Flight Magazine, making Henri Farman’s biplane a still ongoing (amateur) production.

Add a decade, and the world saw its first all-metal aircraft, Junkers F 13, the hero of pioneering days of air transportation (so it often appears in our column, mostly on floats). The last commercial F13 retired in 1951. Replicating this design by amateurs proved more tricky: 4,000 parts and 35,000 rivets! Moreover, one had to copy the drawing and specific manufacturing methods first – as early Junkers weren’t deeply mechanised crafts. This achievement was made by Dieter Morszeck, a German entrepreneur, in the 2010s. In 2016, after three years of construction, the first F13 replica took off for its maiden flight. In 2021, it was followed by Junkers A 50 Junior, while 2023 brought the resumption of Junkers A 60. We are now waiting for the brand-new ‘replica’ of the famous tri-motor Ju 52…

Photos: Wikimedia Commons

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TRANSPORT MISCELLANY

Still steaming!

Unlike the abovementioned wooden or aluminium replicas, rolling stock made from iron & steel is much more durable and easier to repair. Owing to that, we can still hop on authentic vintage trains pulled by genuine steam locomotives. Three Baltic islands offer such attractions: Rügen (24 km of the 750 mm narrow-gauge track), Gotland (6.5 km, 891 mm), and Lolland, the oldest and the only one working 1,435 mm standard track. It connects Maribo, the town in the centre, and Bandholm, the island’s northern coast harbour. The 7.5 km railway was opened in 1869 and, till 1875, was separated from the national network until the bridge over Guldborgsund was erected.

The trail was started by Maribo-Bandholm Jernbane, a private company, while today, it’s operated by the non-profit Dansk Jernbane Klub. The organisation’s depot in Maribo houses an impressive collection: eight steam locomotives (seven are run by combustion engines) and 45 passenger & baggage wagons. The portfolio includes a working steam locomotive from 1879, the world’s oldest diesel locomotive from 1921, and one pax car from the very first set of six (which started with two locos in 1869). The last piece is still going strong, serving traffic! We, therefore, wish Museumsbanen Maribo-Bandholm that their boilers and cylinders will never lose steam!

Photos: Wikimedia Commons

Bunkering in Gdynia As we celebrate the Port of Gdynia’s 100th anniversary, a question arises – is any part of the harbour older than 100 years? Yes, a roadstead (the same holds true for many other ports), a working part of the seaport.

The most important good transshipped behind the port’s breakwaters was bunker coal. It was cheap yet high-quality, so many steamers rerouted to Gdynia for coal only. To speed up things and cut operational costs, three bunkering vessels were purchased by three different companies (how competitive!) in the 1930s. The photo depicts the brand-new Robur VII (built in 1937 with a capacity of 1,200 dwt) at work. It also explains the technology similar to the one used in contemporary self-discharging bulkers: the conveyor took the coal from the bottom of the V-shaped hold to the top of the boom from where it was sliding to the hatch of the fuelled ship. How fast (300t/hr) and simple!

Photo: Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe

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WHO IS WHO NEIL DALUS TT Club’s Risk Assessment Manager EMEA

JENS DREWES Hellmann’s CEO

Dalus’ career extends over 20+ years managing port and port-related infrastructure and assets. This experience includes positions in local authority, consultancy, and 11 at PD Ports, starting at the last of these as a civil engineer and progressing to Group Engineering Director. His skills and knowledge will ensure that port authorities, cargo-handling players, and terminal operators are well-advised on their specific risk profiles.

Drewes, who holds a degree in Business Administration and Management from the Leibniz Akademie, brings a wealth of experience in the logistics industry with a track record spanning over 30 years, primarily in the Asia-Pacific region and, lately, Europe. Since the late 1990s, he worked for Kuehne + Nagel, where he was most recently responsible for the European business.

He began his career at Schenker in Hannover as an apprentice and then Airfreight Export Operator.

MORTEN ENGELSTOFT TTB & TT Club’s Chairman

JOSH FINCH TT Club’s Logistics Risk Manager

The liability insurance provider to the international cargo & logistics industry has announced that Engelstoft is to chair both Through Transport Mutual Insurance Association Limited (TTB) and its subsidiary, TT Club Mutual Insurance.

Engelstoft spent 36 years in various positions and across three regions within Maersk, including as COO, Chief Executive South East Asia and earlier of Eastern Mediterranean. He retired in June 2023 from the position of CEO at APM Terminals.

Finch has 15 years of experience in the logistics industry, featuring various operational and project management roles. His positions as Operations Manager at the independent UK logistics company Howard Tenens and DHL Supply Chain, as both operations and transport manager, have allowed him to acquire a depth of knowledge into the practical, day-to-day application of risk mitigation policies.

MARIA KÄMÄRÄINEN The Port of HaminaKotka’s Manager of Security and Rescue

FRANK SCHNELLE ECG’s Executive Director

Kämäräinen, Master of Maritime Management, joins the Finnish seaports from the position of team manager in the Seafaring and Port Industry at Ekami, the Joint Authority of Education of KotkaHamina Region (where she also gained experience in project & training work and customer account management). Kämäräinen already worked in the port sector as a supervisor in forwarding & stevedoring and as an Occupational Protection and Terminal Manager. She also worked at sea performing deck duties.

CHRISTIAN TREU Danelec’s SVP for Digital Business Specifically, Treu will lead the DanelecConnect & IoT Business, focusing on sustainable vessel and cloud solutions for the new generation of digital applications that demand high-quality & high-frequency ship and fleet data to enable the maritime industry’s green transition. Treu joins the Danish company from ZeroNorth, where he started as Director of Revenue Management and Project Optimisation and signed off as Head of Commercial Excellence.

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The works of the Association of European Vehicle Logistics (ECG) will now be led by Frank Schnelle, a senior and well-known figure in the finished vehicle logistics (FVL) industry with some 30 years of experience under his belt, including over 13 years with GLOVIS Europe as General Manager – Business Development and then as Director FVL, five as Member of Adampol’s Supervisory Board, and 11 as Key Account Manager Automobile for BLG Logistics.

ARSENIO ANTONIO DOMINGUEZ VELASCO IMO’s Secretary-General The Director of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Marine Environment Division was elected for an initial term of four years, starting from 1 January 2024. Velasco joined the IMO Secretariat in 2017, first as Chief of Staff to the departing Secretary-General, Kitack Lim, before being appointed in 2020 as Director of the Organization’s Administrative Division.

He also, among others, chaired IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee in 2014-17.

OCT Lisbon

2023 Portugal

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Balancing environmental challenges with economic demands

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Science Coordinator EcoPorts, European Sea Ports Organization, Senior Trainer ECO Sustainable Logistic Chain Foundation

Director General, CLECAT (European Association for Forwarding, Transport, Logistics and Customs Services)

Executive Board Member, Port of Lisbon Authority

Secretary General , ESPO, (European Sea Port Organisation)

Programme out now Gain insight from industry experts on: Climate Change: Energy efficiency, GHG emissions reduction & adaptation Offshore Renewables and Alternative Energy Waste Management and Circular Economy Carbon Neutral Ports Blue Growth Infrastructure Development for Ports & Cruise Digitalization and Technology

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Meet and network with over 200 attendees representing port authorities, terminal operators and shipping lines. For more information on attending, sponsoring or speaking, contact the events team: visit: greenport.com/congress tel: +44 1329 825 335 email: congress@greenport.com #GPCongress

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