Collaboration the route to net zero

LOOK TO THE CENTRE

SUSTAINABILITY • THE GLOBAL SHIPPING INDUSTRY IS A COMPLEX ECOSYSTEM AND IT IS NOT EASY TO BRING EVERYONE TOGETHER TO ADDRESS EMISSIONS REDUCTION. ONE PROJECT IS GETTING THERE

AFTER A COVID-RELATED delay of nearly two years, the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping (MMMCZCS) was formally opened by its CEO, Bo CerupSimonsen, in late May. The Center was founded in 2020 as a not-for-profit platform to help the maritime industry come together to address the environmental challenges it faces and to take real action to steer the sector on a course to achieve zero-carbon operations, while continuing to meet the needs of global supply chains.

There are plenty of ideas and ongoing projects involving such aspects as: alternative fuels and improved energy efficiency; regulatory and financial measures; and operational enhancements. However, these all require extensive re-engineering or a significant change of mindset among industry and the regulatory and financial authorities. One problem is that this range of perspectives and potential solutions can cause confusion among the various stakeholders involved. The maritime industry is sorely in need of high-level agreement on what is to be done and coordinated action to implement solutions agreed across the sector.

One aspect mitigating against concerted effort is that the maritime industry is a very complex ecosystem, with many different operating models is the various shipping sectors. In addition, the Center has identified three value chains that will be fundamental to directing decarbonisation actions.

INTERDEPENDENCE DAY Firstly, it is important to realise that the well-to-wake marine fuel value chain encompasses exploration; transportation; processing; transport of fuel to the fuelling spots and consumption by the ship operator. These are interdependent components that need to be functional simultaneously to avoid bottlenecks and shortages of equipment or fuels. There are also important commercial considerations and, today, vessel operators lack sufficient price-competitive alternative fuels to allow them to commit to charter agreements that include a premium for emissions reduction.

Decarbonisation also has to be a focus for the shipbuilding chain, from the procurement of raw materials to end-of-life recycling. Ships have to be specifically designed so as to minimise greenhouse gas emissions, through a variety of ways, and to maximise the re-use of materials after demolition. Reducing the uncertainties that are currently making owners shy away from investments in new, fuel-efficient ships will require incentives and financing mechanisms. In this context, market-based measures such as carbon pricing can motivate a new era of shipbuilding that accelerates the transition to a low-carbon and zero emissions maritime sector.

In the ship operation phase, there are multiple levers to reducing CO2 emissions, such as: optimising the size and speed of ships, using hydrodynamic designs and dual-fuel engines, or moving to bio-fuels and electric power. Ports have a crucial role to play in supporting these trends, through the provision of the necessary infrastructure for storing and bunkering alternative fuels and the provision of shore power.

Speaking about how MMMCZCS can help shape the future, Giorgio Guadagna, who is seconded to the Center from Stolt Tankers, the only specialist chemical tanker operator to be a member, exemplifies it as “an amazing one-of a kind experiment”. He continues: “There are a lot of collaboration and cooperation projects emerging throughout the industry, but I don’t think any others have a physical space where partners and employees come together to work on these initiatives.

“Researching, preparing for and implementing alternative fuels is such a huge and complex task, so there are projects at the centre focusing on the short to medium term, and others looking further down the line,” Guadagna adds.

Decarbonisation of the maritime industry is moving fast, with implications for global fuel demand. We will no doubt be hearing a lot more about the Center’s work in the coming years. www.zerocarbonshipping.com