DUBAI, 8 November, 2023 — Some conference sessions at The Maritime Standard Tanker conference started in the most creative ways - for example, all the attendees will remember for a long time Shakespeare’s quote “to be or not to be” that triggered the “to retrofit or replace” discussion by Mark Darley. And, the anti-stress globe ball thrown by Nikeel Idnani to the audience to visualize that we may not be able to always control the balls served but we can change the way we play the game.
The references are of course to nothing else than green shipping strategy and the coming emissions regulations - a topic well discussed but yet not fully covered or explicitly answered at the conference.
By the end of the conference, Ali Shehab was inviting the last speakers to perceive all the information given through the so-called funnel process to come up with some key takeaways, and here are mine summarizing the conference and the topics covered:
- There is no consensus on the one alternative fuel that could replace for good the traditional bunkers. LNG is considered by most the “transition fuel”.
- The whole shipping ecosystem (shipyards, ports, barges, engine manufacturers) as well as shipowners and charterers should cooperate and openly share information for the transition to be able to happen.
- Data analytics & new technologies, like drone inspections can lead to optimization and reduce human error.
- There is an almost linear positive correlation between the investment level on the engine efficiency upgrades and fuels conversion with the CO2 emissions reductions, yet each stakeholder needs to identify the “right fit” for them & not all solutions can be applied at the same time.
- The latest advances in lubricants, coatings, hull cleaning can lead to a significant power improvement and consequently reduce the burn of fuels.
Many thanks to WISTA UAE for sponsoring my place at the event.
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By Theano Karathanasi
Ship Broker
Quincannon Associates DMCC