This year’s World Maritime Day sees the entire maritime industry reflect upon the need to support a green transition and work towards a more sustainable future. We talked to Hafnia’s Technical Director Ralph Juhl and Vice President of Technical, Jørgen Thuesen, to find out more about how Hafnia is contributing to a new, greener era within the post-pandemic shipping.
We began by asking Technical Director Ralph Juhl about the various departments in Hafnia which are involved in building back better and greener.
“Nowadays, all departments are thinking green. Charterers and Operations must fix and trade the vessels in the most emissions effective way to minimize the company’s environmental footprint. In short, carbon taxes will increase the focus on their performance even more. When it comes to direct environmental solutions, it’s the technical departments and their project departments that must provide practical technical solutions.”
Ralph continues by describing the impact of the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) rules and the International Maritime Organizations (IMO) new regulation regarding Water Ballast Treatment Systems (BWTS). Both measures have been used to stimulate new greener technologies throughout the shipping industry.
“The biggest game changers in shipping when it comes to environmental improvements are in my mind the EEDI rules and the WBTS regulations. The EEDI rules have reduced general carbon emissions by 30% by requiring technical solutions that create greater efficiency – as new, greener fuels are not just around the corner. Ballast Water Treatment Systems (BWTS) have undoubtedly assisted in reducing the transfer of invasive species around the world and therefore secured a better ocean eco system for the future. A lot of smaller, singular technical features have also assisted in reducing carbon footprints within shipping, such as mewis ducts and boss cap fins among other innovations. Furthermore, increased demands for, for example, anti-fouling paints have helped improve the biodiversity of our seas.”
When it comes to Ralph’s hopes for the future of the maritime industry, he believes in the power of collaboration,
“I hope that shipping, as an industry, collaboratively and together, will stand united and achieve the environmental goals set by the IMO. I hope that ships one day will sail effectively in perfect harmony with nature, on a clean ocean with flourishing biodiversity.”
Vice President of Technical, Jørgen Thuesen is deeply involved with Hafnia’s retrofitting of its fleet and new building projects, which of course are geared towards new, greener technologies and heightened sustainability measures. We caught up with Jørgen to find out which topics are on the agenda when taking action to ensure a sustainable future within maritime.
Jørgen has taken part in stimulating innovation within the shipping industry by joining workgroups and organizations outside of shipping. While delivering knowhow and data from the product tanker industry, he has been able to gain access to valuable insights from other industries that have informed Hafnia’s innovation processes. Getting specific Jørgen spoke to us about a few projects that Hafnia is engaged in, to enable a more sustainable maritime industry.
“Our retrofit project was initiated to improve performance and save oil and emissions. We’ve retrofitted new as well as known technologies onboard the Hafnia fleet to meet future regulatory demands and a greener maritime environment.”
Jørgen continues to explain the further sustainable measures Hafnia is taking,
“Onboard our ships we’re targeting reducing general waste, in particular plastic and exploring new ways of dealing with other forms of waste including engine room slops and chemical waste in an environmentally safe way.”
Every sustainable decision Hafnia takes is a step in the right direction,
“Future fuels for our fleet are on the horizon but still a long way from implementation. This means that we must focus on doing everything that we can to embrace new and known technologies to aid efficiency in both our fleet and in new buildings associated with Hafnia.”
And what are Jørgen’s hopes for the greener future?
“My hope is that the maritime industry as a whole works together to finalize the rules and regulations that will enable a greener future for shipping. Once we have some firm and realistic targets to work with, we can set a course for meeting our ultimate target of zero emissions. This requires we work together across all departments – and industries for that matter – as collaboration is key to meeting the final goal of greener shipping.”
With sustainable initiatives implemented across a broad range of its commercial activities Hafnia celebrates World Maritime Day 2022 together with its industry peers.
Hafnia is a member of the Global Maritime Forum, an international non-for-profit organization that works to shape the future of global seaborne trade to increase sustainable long term economic development and human wellbeing. It convenes leaders from across the maritime community with policymakers, experts, NGOs, and other influential decision-makers, largely to work together towards a greener future.
Hafnia is also a member of the Getting to Zero Coalition – a partnership between the Global Maritime Forum and World Economic Forum, bringing together a community of ambitious stakeholders, committed to the decarbonization of shipping. The overall ambition of the Getting to Zero Coalition is to have commercially viable zero-emission vessels operating along deep-sea trade routes by 2030, supported by the necessary infrastructure for scalable net zero- carbon energy sources including production, distribution, storage, and bunkering, towards a full decarbonization by 2050.
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