Major maritime companies join forces to adopt vessel optimisation strategies that can decrease annual fuel consumption by 20%, and reduce annual emissions by more than 200 million tonnes of CO2.
The Danish giant Maersk Tankers is among the signatories of the operational efficiency ambition statement organised by the Global Maritime Forum and leading maritime companies.
As reported by Maersk, ensuring efficiency in day-to-day operations can make a huge impact.
“As the commercial manager of a sizeable fleet, we manage around 3,000 voyages a year, with our team of operational experts ensuring that each voyage is conducted as efficiently as possible. This core part of our service helps shipowners cut fuel consumption and emissions today, and also contributes to the industry’s vital green transition,” said Maersk in a short statement.
The shipping leaders and supporting organisations have signed an ambition statement agreeing to take collective action in five areas, such as data collection and transparency; contractual changes; pilot projects; ports, terminals, and value chains; and culture and leadership.
They have also signed a statement agreeing to diligently assess their maturity and progress, and take a leadership role in bringing operational efficiency to the forefront of the shipping agenda.
The signatories of the operational efficiency ambition statement are: Amaggi, Blue Visby, Bunge, Cargill, Chevron Shipping, COFCO International, Copenhagen Commercial Platform (CCP), Euronav, Genco Shipping, Lloyd’s Register, Louis Dreyfus Company, Maersk Tankers, NAPA, NYK Group, OCIMF, Oldendorff Carriers, Port of Açu, Port of Rotterdam, PSA International Pte Ltd, Rubis Energie, Siglar Carbon, Signol, Stena Bulk, Stephenson Harwood, Torvald Klaveness, UKHO, Viterra, Watson Farley & Williams LLP (WFW), Wisdom Marine Group, and Zero North.
Three participating companies, Chevron, Euronav, and Cargill, announced the joint ambition statement as part of the Global Maritime Forum Annual Summit in Athens.
A series of insight briefs published by the Global Maritime Forum highlighted that operational efficiencies can decrease annual fuel consumption by 20% and reduce annual emissions by more than 200 million tonnes of CO2.
Jesse Fahnestock, the Global Maritime Forum’s project director for decarbonisation, said “Capitalising fully on operational efficiency will be a prerequisite to achieving the 2030, 2040, and 2050 emissions reduction targets that were recently introduced as part of the International Maritime Organization’s revised greenhouse gas emissions strategy.”
Eman Abdalla, global operations and supply chain director, Cargill Ocean Transportation, commented “In an industry built around vessels that remain in service for decades, only through operational efficiencies, reducing fuel usage, costs, and carbon emissions will we be able to afford future green fuels and achieve our decarbonisation targets.”
Mark Ross, president of Chevron Shipping, noted “Chevron and the Global Maritime Forum are aligned on increasing efficiencies, decreasing fuel consumption, and lowering the carbon intensity of operations.”
Lieve Logghe, interim chief executive of Euronav, pointed out “The decarbonisation pathway starts today – not in 2030 or even in 2050. This is the reason Euronav joined the Global Maritime Forum’s operational efficiency work in the first place, and why signing and acting on the ambition statement was a no-brainer. The initiative enables cross-industry peers to pool actionable knowledge and to share actual real-life experiences – resulting in an impact on both the environment and the bottom line of the company.”
