32 SPECIAL FOCUS
Payback time
As one major international shipping group has discovered, the correlation between potentially massive dollar savings and energy-efficient vessels is compelling. To date, though, the structure of the shipping sector has discouraged the industry from acting en masse. Tom Idle asks if the tide is about to turn
O
ne of the world’s biggest shipping players, Maersk, has just spent $1.9bn on ten new vessels. The new Triple-E ships, described as “the most energy-effi cient container vessels the world has ever seen,” will be used as part of the company’s fl eet for transporting goods from Asia to Europe. It is a huge investment for the Danish ship
owner and operator, but one with signifi cant long-term savings potential. The new ships will use half as much fuel per container as the industry average. They are 20% more effi cient than the company’s previous best in class. And the new boats will help Maersk achieve their
container moved by a quarter by 2020. This level of saving is uncommon
ambitious goal of cutting CO2
even if the long-term view is not. Peter Hinchliff e, secretary-general of the International Chamber of Shipping and International Shipping Federation explains, “Producing effi ciency in the
emissions per
carriage of cargo in ships is bread and butter to ship owners – and has been for hundreds of years. When you buy a ship, you want to operate it economically for 25 to 30 years, so you take a long-term view.” Long-term view or not, it is clear that investment in effi ciency technologies remains lower than potential economic gains would suggest. Sub-optimal take-up of green technologies is evident across many sectors beyond shipping.
Sharing the savings Interestingly, Maersk’s triple-E vessels captured many of the gains relative to the rest of the fl eet with a relatively simple and limited set of technologies, and obviously taking advantage of huge economies of scale and focusing on internal paybacks on current market conditions. There is a lot that can be done to improve
the performance of goods carriers on new- build and retrofi t – from changing the design of the hull and propeller, to installing waste heat recovery systems. Making operational changes to the way in which boats are used and managed can also have a big payback. In fact, Maersk has reduced its CO2
emissions
The shipping industry could be spending $70bn a year less on fuel, according to Carbon War Room
per container moved by 14.5% in the last three years purely by introducing operational improvements, such as reducing the speed of vessels. “It’s about payback time,” says Jacob Sterling, Maersk’s head of climate and environment. Each of the
CREATING CLIMATE WEALTH
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