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“Greener Shipping Summit 2023. Where is Shipping Heading in the Next Decade?”

The 15th “Greener Shipping Summit” was held at the Eugenides Foundation in Athens on November 7, 2023, by organiser Newsfront / Naftiliaki in a resounding success.  Titled “Where is Shipping Heading in the Next Decade”, it was held under the auspices of Greek shipping's powerful Marine Technical Managers Association, Martecma.Every year the conference features prominently on the shipping community’s annual calendar, drawing strong interest. More than 500 people from 15 countries attended the conference, along with the participation of 354 companies.

Under the chairmanship of Stavros Hatzigrigoris, Advanced Engineering Services, Zodiac Maritime, five panels of discussion were held bringing together some 30 panelists who analysed and presented key topics focusing on the environment, regulations, business trends and the global economy. CEOs, senior officials, analysts and leading market participants, among others, provided valuable insight on fast changing topics faced by the shipping industry.

John Platsidakis, Honorary Chairman, INTERCARGO, as keynote speaker highlighted that over the years Greek ship owners have followed the evolution of technology and will continue to do so.

“Adaptability is the key word. We all observe a fast enhancing technology affecting business and the day to day life of all citizens. In parallel, the protection of the environment is at the top of the agenda of society. Every sector of the economy needs to take this into account and certainly shipping needs to do so,” he said.

“In terms of the protection of the environment, I would say that shipping is guilty until proven innocent. Shipping has received heavy criticism as a major pollutant. This is unfair. It transports 90% of world trade, and emits 2.3% of the world’s emissions,” Mr Platsidakis pointed out.

In two sessions moderated by Haris Giantzikis, Technical Manager, Arcadia Shipmanagement discussing “Solutions heading for zero carbon”, Michael Jeppesen, Promotion Manager, MAN Energy Solutions, said that his company is moving ahead with research work and expects to install its first ammonia powered engine in a vessel next year. “By the end of 2024, we will be able to deliver our first ammonia powered engine, a commercial engine, that will be delivered to a Japanese shipyard. We have positive results from our tests. A handful of engines will be in use in 2025-26,” said Jeppesen.

In turn, Christoph Rofka, Division President for Medium and Low Speed Products, Accelleron, spoke about the need for flexibility in product development as he looked at challenges in adopting new fuels. “Ammonia, methanol and LNG will be the future fuels. By 2030 all newbuilds will be dual fuel capable. The technology will ramp up faster than the availability of these new fuels,” he said.

Converting raw data to actionable intelligence was addressed by George Manditsios. Product Owner, Data Analysis Department, METIS Cyberspace Technology, Dimitris Koutsaftis, Senior Scientific Consultant, R&D, ERMA First presented carbon capture storage (CCS) while Hempel’s Yigit Kemal Demireal addressed navigating energy efficiency dilemmas in the CII era.

Powering the world with wind was discussed by David Ferrer, Chief Technical Officer and Co-founder of bound4blue; energy saving devices (ESD) were presented by ERMA First’s Vassilis Tsarsitalidis; Hakon Juel Hansen, Promotion Manager & Business Development, HOLEBY Gensets, MAN Energy Solutions presented developments as MAN heads for zero carbon methanol gensets and Antonis Trakakis, Technical director, Marine, RINA gave an overview of solutions for decarbonising the shipping industry.

A main point of discussion in the conference is how shipping can tackle the uncertainty and prepare for challenging conditions.
Moderated by Evangelos Adam, Sustainability, Environment, Energy Performance Manager, Dynacom Tankers Management, the issue of if new technologies guarantee the sustainability of shipping was discussed. OVERSEA – a Fleet Support Center as a Service was presented by Marcel Vrijsen, Global Sales Manager, Digital Service, ABB; Navigating the maintenance challenges of two-stroke engines was covered by Marcus Schaerer, General Manager Technical and Services, Shell Marine.
Lefteris Koukoulopoulos, Regional Decarbonisation Specialist, DNV, said that “we need to collaborate between industries to secure the best solution for each industry.” A view mirrored by Fotis Dalmyras, Chief Executive Officer, Andriaki Shipping Co Ltd. “What needs to be done is to get the right collaboration either within the company or with external partners,” said Dalmyras.

In regards to useful tools in the decarbonisation process, Nikos Liapis, President, Hellenic Institute of Marine Technology (HIMT), stressed that AI has emerged as a powerful weapon in the push to make the industry sustainable.

“The best way to achieve decarbonisation in the short term is by optimising ship operations,” he said. AI can help reduce consumption, collect all data on carbon emissions and prevent engine deficiencies, added Liapis. “On training and getting the right skills, the biggest problem here is finding the right personnel to do this. There must be a lot of training to be sure that crews have the right skills,” said Liapis.

Other discussions took place focused on “How can a ship operator navigate the complex regulations sea?” moderated by Stamatis Fradelos, VP, Regulatory Affairs, ABS. Panellists including Maria Lambardaki, Project Development Leader SEEBA Zone, Bureau Veritas, who presented CII, EU ETS, FUEL-EU Maritime – Regulatory framework and challenges from verifiers aspect; Theo Kourmpelis, Strategic Business Partner, who led on IMO revised strategy and expected impact to industry including the midterm measures (MBMs).
Commercial / financial impact to operators from regional measures (EU ETS – Fuel EU) was addressed by Stylianos Psillakis, General Manager Technical, Columbia Shipmanagement Greece Ltd; The changing regulatory landscape as a catalyst for technological advancement in shipping was presented by George Skevis, General Manager, CLEOS and designing for the future while learning from the past was discussed by Christos Hadjigeorgiou, MD, Almi Marine Management SA
Furthermore, Greece’s global position was examined in a discussion “How Greece will maintain its leading position in global shipping”.
Moderated by Panos Kourkountis, Technical Director, Sea Traders SA and Chairman of MARTECMA the final session of the day was led by John Cotzias, Projects & Finance, Xclusiv Shipbrokers; President, Hellenic Shipbrokers Association; Angelica Kemene, Head of Market Analysis & Intelligence, Optima Shipping Services; George Souravlas, CEO, Load Line Marine SA, and Panagiotis Zafet, MD Balthellas Group