Low-hanging fruit and the ramifications of what was agreed at last month’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) gathering at the International Maritime Organization formed much of the discussion during the Dry Decarbonisation panel moderated by Lloyd’s Register’s Nikos Kakalis at last week’s Geneva Dry summit.
Massimo Giovannini, managing partner at Monaco owner Trans Sea Transport Group, ensured the session got off to an interesting start, maintaining that net-zero by 2050 goals are a “unicorn” in that no one has the answers today.
Nuclear further down the line, might be shipping’s way to meet green targets, the Italian shipowner suggested.
A good compromise is when all parties are not happy
“I don’t think anybody, including myself, has that crystal ball to say, OK, which zero-carbon fuel is going to be the answer for dry bulk vessels,” conceded Eman Abdalla, global operations and supply chain director at Cargill Ocean Transportation, who admitted there was a chance shipping would miss hitting its 2050 targets.
On last month’s MEPC gathering in London where member states agreed upon a watered-down net zero framework, Abdalla said: “There isn’t necessarily a well-defined business case for anybody to go and immediately order ships for specific zero carbon fuels, but at least it has definitely planted the right seeds so that we can start ordering dual fuel vessels or dual fuel capable vessels.”
Also discussing MEPC, Gaël Coronel, regulatory and public affairs officer at SUISSENÉGOCE, a local trade body, commented: “As a Swiss citizen, we always say a good compromise is when all parties are not happy. And that’s exactly what has happened with this regulation.”
Providing advice on how to advance green ambitions, Salvatore Castellano, freight decarbonisation manager at Chinese agri-business giant COFCO International, called for greater open communication and “chemistry” between charterers and owner/operators.
“Once that is defined, we have our operation teams who are more dedicated to maximise the intake, minimise the consumption, using all the different tools that thankfully we have already with digitalisation and the latest technology.”
These are all small steps, Castellano said, concluding: “Rome was not built in a day, little by little.”
Geneva Dry, the world’s premier commodities shipping conference, returns on April 28 and 29 next year, with delegate passes being limited. Tickets are now on sale here.