The Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI) on Thursday launched a report calling for a greener shipping industry among its members and other maritime sector heavyweights, while giving an update on the progress made to date.
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The SSI, a 21-strong coalition of global shipping leaders, developed the 23-page report titled, ‘A Case for More Action’, during the past 18 months. It tackles maritime sustainability and the future of global trade, detailing challenges within the industry as well as case studies from different firms, together with a set of practical tools.
The coalition aims to have a sustainable industry by 2040.
This latest report follows the initial document made in 2011, called ‘Case for Action’. The SSI has since been calling on the industry to take far-reaching action on the social, environmental and economic aspects of the maritime trade.
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The SSI’s work reduces risks and promotes nimbler work practices to turn efficiency, sustainability and profitability into realities and norms for the shipping sector
Helle Gleie, SSI director
The launch and global industry gathering coincided with the International Maritime Organization’s ‘World Maritime Day 2013’, of which the theme is sustainable development.
According to the SSI, whose members include companies representing the entire shipping supply chain such as Maersk Line, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, ABN Amro, Lloyd’s Register and Unilever, 90 per cent of the world’s trade travels by sea and this leads to about four per cent of worldwide carbon dioxide emissions.
Helle Gleie, the recently appointed director of the SSI, said at the report’s launch at Singapore’s Traders Hotel: “The SSI’s work reduces risks and promotes nimbler work practices to turn efficiency, sustainability and profitability into realities and norms for the shipping sector.”
The issues are too big for any one organisation to solve on its own, said the SSI, and there is an “urgent need” to move towards a sustainable industry, stressed Gleie.
The latest report, which details the coalition’s achievements in four workstream projects or operational tasks concerning ship financing, ship recycling, energy technology and sustainability benchmarking, will bring the industry closer to its vision, said Jonathan Porritt, founding director of non-profit Forum for the Future, which initially facilitated the SSI along with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
These projects address specific industry challenges, like the amount of resources used and environmental performance. For example, the SSI team for the recycling and closed-loop materials management workstream created three pilot projects and a stakeholder consultation process to assess the feasibility and value of having a database system that will track and trace shipbuilding materials. They also advised on the replacement of used ship steels into new ships, the coalition said.
In ship financing, the SSI noted the reluctance of ship-owners to invest in the retrofit of new energy efficient technologies that will only benefit third-party operators chartering their ships. As a result, they provided a new financial model called ‘Save as you Sail’ (SAYS), which allows owners to take out a loan from a financing provider and obtain a regular fixed SAYS fee with a time charterer on top of their usual charter rates. This way the savings a charterer gets from using energy efficient technologies will also benefit the owner through their additional payment, covering the owner’s loan payments and also making them profitable after the loan period.
Aside from these findings, Gleie noted other innovations in the industry, such as bacteria-based fuels, propulsion through kites, and eco-friendly ships.
Separately, Maersk Line’s Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller, the world’s largest and most energy efficient container ship made its maiden call in Singapore the day after the SSI event.
A first in the series of Triple-E vessels, it features an efficient propulsion system and an advanced waste heat recovery system that saves up to 10 per cent of the main engine power. It also uses 35 per cent less fuel per container compared to other similar container-carrying ships.
These advancements and all the efforts of other companies and the coalition will enable the maritime sector to be more responsible and efficient with their use of natural resources, cut down emissions and provide safer and better working environments for employees, said the SSI.
