On January 13, 2022 Mare Forum and Bureau Veritas hosted the 2nd online round table of the series “Designing the Future of Shipping”.
The panel, comprising esteemed maritime industry professionals, chair-holders and leading experts, shared and discussed their insights on how GHG emissions could be significantly reduced before 2030.
Dagfinn Lunde, Chairman and co-founder of eShipfinance.com actively participated and shared his thoughts on the topic as well. As an economist, his practical approach helped bring to light a different perspective, one that focused more on the immediate action that could be taken to reduce GHG emissions from the >40,000 existing ocean-going fleet on international trade rather than solely the “green ships” of the future, most of which would only be available around 2028. Ambitious projects for these ships are far ahead and action cannot be delayed until then. While new technology is being developed, he urged the panel to simultaneously also question what measures (like the emergence of newer fuels using renewable energy sources) could be taken considering all factors to meet the 2030 targets.
A question he posed was “What can shipowners do today?” keeping in mind that many of their existing portfolio of vessels would operate for the next 20 years. What measures could they take now to see a greater impact in the next 5 years?
To conclude, Mr. Lunde revisited his economist roots and was of the opinion that studying voyage calculations in detail would help provide actionable insights. Freight rates and Fuel prices must be balanced. He spoke of a potential carbon tax to effectively impact fuel usage. However, he also noted that the price of fuels may rise to the extent that the tax might not even be necessary. This would potentially help to incentivize the use of alternative fuels. While a number of charterers or cargo owners are in the process of implementing carbon reduction across their supply chain, it is not an instant or even short-term process. The way forward into the future would require the infusion of more technology experts into the maritime sector. Collaboration between maritime experts, energy experts and technology experts could potentially help the industry at large to achieve the targets.
For more information about the event, click here.
To know more about Dagfinn Lunde, click here.