A sustainable maritime industry in a 2°C scenario – has the ship already sailed?

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Shipping has long been a fundamental enabler of trade, although its important role may go unnoticed. Think about where the clothes you are wearing were made and how they arrived here. What about your phone? How did its components all come together to reach your hand right now? It’s very likely that shipping played a role in both examples. How is this all made possible?

Containerisation, a system of multimodal transport storage, means that ships remain the cheapest and most efficient transport method. Today, they can carry tens of thousands of containers around the globe with only a small crew.

The industry has been growing at a remarkable rate. Already producing 2.5% of global carbon emissions, this industry is expected to grow by between 50% and 250% by 2050. Shipping fuel is often much more dense and polluting than that allowed on land, presenting an environmental challenge that needs to be met by more sustainable measures in the shipping industry.

WHERE ARE WE NOW?

The acclaimed Paris climate agreement in 2015 achieved great success in establishing binding carbon targets by sector. However, due to extensive lobbying of the International Marine Organisation (IMO), shipping was the only sector excluded from legally binding emissions reductions. This has impacted the drive towards developing more sustainable fuels and shipping systems, despite the IMO committing to some form of carbon reductions.

As a result, international shipping legislation around environmental impacts has been slow. But there has been some progress. A recent development was the introduction of a lower sulphur content cap for shipping fuels from 3.5% to 0.5% from 2020, with an aim to improve air quality near ports and shipping routes.

Environmental legislation is increasingly coming from regional and local levels, although its impacts are felt at a global scale. A notable example is the EU, which has declared that any ship over 5,000 tonnes must monitor, report and verify their annual carbon emissions from 1 January 2018. This drive for sustainability has come from individual ports as well. For instance, the Port of London Authority has introduced a 5% discounted green tariff for more environmentally friendly ships.

WHERE ARE WE GOING?

These examples look set to become trends, with increasing responsibility being taken by port authorities. The World Ports Sustainability Programme (WPSP) was launched in March this year, aimed at creating holistic sustainability plans for ports to shape the shipping sector thorough a series of tariffs, investment, efficiency improvements, and bans.

There has been much innovation regarding clean-energy shipping, including the soon-approaching world-first electric, driver-less barge; hydrogen-powered shipping; and a solar-powered bulk-carrier ship. However, these technologies are unlikely to contribute significantly to carbon reductions in the shipping sector any time soon. The near future of sustainable shipping therefore looks increasingly based around new fuel blends, efficiency measures, and taxes. Unlike road fuels, marine fuels are currently not taxed, and a CO2 tax is gaining momentum worldwide. This method helps to drive the cheapest emissions reductions, through optimisation of shipping speeds, fuel shifts and efficiency improvements.

The sector is facing some big changes, although the mechanisms remain unclear. If sustainable shipping is to make a tangible contribution to global climate targets, both international legislative pressure and bottom-up regional and port-led initiatives will need to be ambitious, economically viable, and aligned.

Action or inaction in the industry will also have significant consequences for the outcomes of the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs), most notably SDG 13 on climate action and SDG 14 relating to life below water. The maritime industry will need to play an integral role in development that conserves our oceans and marine resources, an essential requirement for a sustainable future.

Source: Hellenic Shipping News

Port Reception Facilities: ESPO welcomes draft report but calls for stricter application of the “Polluter Pays” principle

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The European Sea ports Organisation (ESPO) welcomes the proposals put forward by the European Parliament Rapporteur Ms Gesine Meissner in the draft report of the Transport Committee on the review of the Waste Reception Facilities Directive (Com (2018) 33).  The Draft Report will be discussed in the Transport Committee meeting of 10 July.

The proposals of the Parliament’s rapporteur are aiming to better protect the marine environment and decrease the administrative burden for stakeholders. ESPO welcomes in particular proposals such as the definition of catering waste which would increase the quantities of recycled plastics and contribute to the targets of the European Plastics Strategy.

European ports believe however that the ‘polluter pays’ principle, which has been the cornerstone of the EU’s environmental policy, needs to be strengthened. Introducing a fee system whereby ships would deliver unreasonable quantities of garbage, including dangerous waste for a fixed fee would be a severe divergence from the ‘polluter pays’ principle. It risks to discourage reducing waste at the source.

“The report of Ms Meissner is clearly a step forward. Overall, the report pursues the objectives of the circular economy and aims to reduce administrative burden for authorities and stakeholders. We strongly believe however that the ‘polluter pays’ principle needs to be better reflected in the new Directive. We cannot accept a regime whereby ships are not incentivised to limit waste at the source and ports have to carry the costs of delivering unreasonable amounts. Additionally, we oppose an automatic rebate for “green” ships. Any green rebate, if not corresponding to a real cost reduction, will have to be borne by the port authority. Not all port managing bodies have the financial ability to cover this cost and to give such rebates. We plead for an efficient, but responsible management of ship waste. We count on the rapporteur and Transport Committee members to further optimise the Directive in that sense” says ESPO’s Secretary General, Isabelle Ryckbost.

Any mandatory green rebates for waste, as proposed by the Commission proposal, would prevent ports from addressing local environmental challenges. In some areas, waste pollution is a great environmental concern while in others it is air quality and emissions. Furthermore, mandatory rebates disregard the existence of different business and governance models in ports across Europe.

The Commission has been preparing an EU submission to the IMO proposing a 100% indirect fee without quantity thresholds at international level (here).  “I regret that a submission is being introduced to the Council when Parliament has not expressed any views, and negotiations with the Council have not even started. This initiative seems to bypass the ongoing democratic process and lacks legitimacy” adds ESPO’s Secretary General, Isabelle Ryckbost.

Source: ESPO Press Release

The Escola Europea trains professionals in intermodal railway logistics

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After the stellar successes obtained during the past editions of the SURCO series, the Escola has completed this summer’s SURCO Operations I course for Spanish professionals, which offered introductory training on intermodal railway logistics.

The course took place between the 2nd and the 4th of July 2018 in Barcelona. Designed for professionals of freight transport companies in the maritime and railway sectors and students of logistics and transport, it introduced an analysis of the different elements needed in order to offer efficient services in intermodal railway-maritime transport.

SURCO (Simple Use of Railway COnnections) courses aim to promote the use of railway transport by providing training and necessary information to those professionals who will decide on and manage logistics chains in the future in which the railway could be used as a viable alternative in terms of services, costs and time. They also work towards the promotion of co-modality as a viable and sustainable alternative to transport that relies primarily on the road.

During the 3 days the course participants had the opportunity to discover infrastructures and equipment involved in port-railway transport and learned about the regulations and documents necessary to manage rail freight transport services in intermodal interactions. The theoretical lectures covered maritime-rail transport and logistics, rail services required for freight transport, and rail terminals in ports. The July edition also offered a detailed analysis of the current situation in Spanish ports in terms of infrastructures, railway network characteristics, and the service zones, among other things. The theory was accompanied by practical visits to the Port of Barcelona (including trips to Hutchison BEST semi-automatic container terminal, AUTOTERMINAL car terminal and the solid bulk terminal Tramer, operated by ICL; a visit to a marshalling yard and to Logistainer, a logistic operator at CAN TUNIS complex; and a visit to ADIF’s integrated management centre.

SURCO Operations was carried out in collaboration with the Port of Barcelona, Adif, Autoterminal, FGC Ferrocarrils, ICL, Hutchison’s BEST Terminal, Transportes Portuarios and Transportes Tomás.

The educational focus of the Escola is based on research: students attend lectures and practical workshops that encourage collaborative work and group cohesion as a means to optimize the development of logistics chains.

For more information check out the SURCO section of our website.

Butransa Spain collaborates in Forma’t al Port with the Escola

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On the 3rd of July, the director of the Escola Eduard Rodés met with Francisco Cuartero, the CEO of Butransa Spain to cement their collaboration in the Forma’t al Port program. The program, sponsored by the Port of Barcelona, Barcelona-Catalunya Logistics Center, the Provincial Council of Barcelona (Diputació de Barcelona) and the Escola Europea, has completed the first semester of its second triennium (2018-2020).

The program, through which the port community approaches students of Transport and Logistics, and International Trade, ended the year 2017 with a record high participation rate. 419 students had had contact with the Port of Barcelona and the business in its community, compared to 2016’s 114 students.

The courses organised under the umbrella of Forma’t al Port encourage the incorporation of students into dual training schemes within the businesses of the sector, with the overall goal of helping to prepare a future logistics community that is able to meet the strategic challenges of the Catalan region.

Forma’t al Port has taken a break for the summer and will return in the autumn with fresh courses for local high school students. There are two Management courses scheduled in October and November respectively, set to take place both in Barcelona and Genova.

Thanks to its brilliant results, the program continues with the goal of helping position Barcelona and Catalonia in the first line of logistics activities in Europe and the world.

For more information go to the webpage of the project: www.escolaeuropea.eu/format or contact us at: formatalport@escolaeuropea.eu

Toyota presents the first vessel propelled by hydrogen

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The vessel, which travels around the world, has a reduced weight thanks to its production system, as it does not have to store all the energy in batteries.

Toyota has just presented the first energy-autonomous boat, which runs on hydrogen and does not emit greenhouse gases or particles. The Energy Observer, launched in 2017 in the French town of Saint-Malo, uses a combination of renewable energies and a system that produces hydrogen from seawater without emitting any carbon.

The vessel, which will sail around the world, uses technologies that will serve as the basis for tomorrow’s energy networks. It’s voyage of approximately six years constitutes a challenge from the human and technological point of view that will put the systems used in extreme circumstances to the test.

Hydrogen is the key to the Energy Observer project and the main reason for Toyota’s participation in the project. Thanks to its production system, the weight of the ship has been considerably reduced compared to the alternative of storing all the energy in batteries.

Its use as a means of storage is key to overcoming the problem of intermittent power supply both on land and at sea, because it allows to take advantage of the surplus and extend the autonomy of mobile facilities.

Source: Cadena de Suministro.

The value of openness in transport data

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The value of openness is best demonstrated by arguably the biggest technological revolution of modern times – the internet. Had the early technical pioneers at ARPANET and CERN who developed the technical protocols that make the internet – and the Worldwide Web that it underpins – kept them proprietary, the internet as we know it would not exist. Giles Bailey, CEO & Director of International Relations at TravelSpirit, James Gleave, Founder and Director of Transport Futures, and Beate Kubitz, COO of TravelSpirit, explain why transport companies now need to do the same, or risk cutting off channels to potentially industry-changing innovation.

Imagine that your access to the vast services and content of the internet was entirely dependent on which browser you used, and that each one required you to hand over your personal and financial information. This might mean that you could only access your email through Firefox, your bank through Chrome, Facebook and Twitter through Safari, etc. Following a link to an outside site would require you to download and register a new browser – one that, more often than not, does not work in most geographic locations. Under these conditions, whole swathes of the open internet as we know it would be unavailable, unfindable and unusable.

This is the sort of ‘closed future’ that the TravelSpirit Foundation seeks to combat by championing a vision for MaaS that is universal and accessible to all people, regardless of their location or destination.

We are advocating an ‘Open Internet of Mobility’, a framework that does not seek to define the solution to be used but, like the internet, defines a common ruleset and governance structure to challenge the drift into the closed ecosystems that we have today. This way, regardless of the technologies deployed – such as blockchain and the Internet of Things – the ecosystem is able to support interoperability, be trustworthy for its participants, and reduce costs and network latency for providers.

Data is critical

Data is increasingly driving innovation in transport, including MaaS. When paper tickets were purchased, operators could collect data showing revenue and approximate usage, but this only represented an approximate picture of network travel.

This scenario is now changing rapidly, with the initiative taken by non-transport actors to take big data feeds and analyse them. On the roads, for example, a number of organisations take data and provide precise network status overviews. For instance, Google is able to determine traffic speed and density from mobile phone positions along routes. In dense urban areas, transport planners such as CityMapper have an overview of transport generated by combining their own user data (collected when people request and navigate public transport routes) with transport operator service feeds to gain city-wide pictures of capacity and demand.

Now, a variety of innovative mobility operators are using big data to provide services. They often use the extraordinarily detailed location data available from mobile phone operating systems in conjunction with their customer requests, to provide services and also predict overall demand and shape services over the longer term. For instance, location data in hailing an Uber is essential to the service provision for both customer and driver – plus map and traffic data enables price and journey length prediction and navigation. Whilst Uber has probably the highest profile – and the most controversy regarding the amount of data it collects on customers – it is not the only innovator that depends on data and data analysis in order to provide a service. From on-demand bus services to bike-share schemes, user data is combined with usage data, mapping and traffic tools to provide and shape services. The details of terms and conditions and privacy policies frame how these datasets are limited to service offerings, or potentially enabled for marketing and wider commercial partnerships.

The emergence of these new transport operators, as well as wider trends in services across society, makes the development of more personalised services through apps and improved data feeds inevitable.

It’s about collaboration

Many of these new technologies and business models are clearly already in place. An example of this is the ‘Contactless Transit Framework’ from the UK Cards Association, which contains three models for enabling the development of contactless payment systems on public transport networks across the UK. The system is being adopted by all major public transport operators by 2025.

However, with few exceptions, no culture of collaboration currently exists to allow MaaS and other new mobility services to be delivered systemically. The message from many transport operators (private and public) to customers is that the best value can be gained from travelling primarily on their services and buying from them directly. Few inform customers about alternative service options provided by other operators and modes, or even if a customer has made the best decision by purchasing from them directly. Furthermore, most operators make no attempt to link a range of services to provide the best overall journey for the traveller. For example, research by the Office of Rail and Road in 2015 identified that one in five rail customers purchased the wrong ticket due to a lack of information on the tickets available for their journey.

Open data is showing the way

Open data has already shown that there is potentially significant public and private benefit for mobility providers. The demand for transport data is most ably demonstrated by transport datasets being the top four most downloaded datasets from the UK Government’s data website since it began service in 2012. The UK is known for its innovation and excellence in openness, with the ‘Open Data Barometer’ ranking the UK’s public transport data as among the most open in the world.

Within major cities across the UK, particularly those with smart city capabilities or aspirations, excellent work has been undertaken to make publicly-owned transport data, such as car park locations, open as standard. However, practice is far from uniform or sufficiently thorough, with many local authorities not publishing any transport data at all. Local authorities should be accelerating the publication of transport datasets.

The delivery of transport apps, powered by open data provided by Transport for London, has also demonstrated significant impacts of open data. Doing so leads to a virtuous circle of benefits, which Deloitte has estimated to be around £130 million per annum through wider job creation, saved journey time, and savings for Transport for London itself. After all, why develop a bespoke solution when open source can help you do it?

Read the full article on the Intelligent Transport website.

MedCruise and CLIA sign a collaboration agreement

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MedCruise and Cruise Lines International Association Europe (CLIA Europe) have signed a collaboration agreement in Brussels.

Through this new agreement both organisations are vowed to jointly promote cruise ship traffic in the Mediterranean Sea, the Black and Red Seas, the Adriatic, and the shores of north of Africa and near Atlantic. In virtue of this important collaborative document, MedCruise and CLIA Europe will carry out specific coordinated actions to develop the sustainable growth of cruise sector in the different local areas and regional organisations, as well as with different bodies of the European Union and related companies in the cruise industry.

Airam Díaz Pastor, president of MedCruise, stated that cruise lines are of vital importance to MedCruise members, so cooperation between both parties was essential. “I want to value the relevance of this agreement we have signed today, since it will allow us to further strengthen the relationship between ports and cruise lines so that the sector continues to grow in our regions and bring wealth to local economies. In fact, in 2017 in our geographical area, 15.8% of the international fleet of cruise ships was concentrated,” he assured.

Kyriakos Anastassiadis, president of CLIA Europe, declared that “we are delighted to work jointly and closely with MedCruise since both associations represent different areas of expertise and a large number of members. In this way, the collaboration agreement will help both associations to continue making progress”.

Source: Veintepies

Study says LNG inadequate for GHG reduction

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Rolling out LNG infrastructure for shipping in Europe would cost US$22bn but only deliver a maximum 6% reduction in ship greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 compared to the replaced diesel, a new study has found.

These emissions savings would likely be cancelled out by the growth of maritime trade, even before possibly higher rates of methane slip are considered, according to the independent study for Transport & Environment (T&E) by the UMAS consultancy.

Faig Abbasov, shipping officer at T&E, said: “LNG is not a bridge fuel, it’s an expensive distraction that will make it harder for the EU to achieve its shipping climate goals and reduce gas imports from places like Russia.

“Europe should back future-proof technologies that would deliver the much greater emissions reductions that will be needed, including port-side charging or liquid hydrogen infrastructure. This means the EU needs to stop mandating LNG infrastructure in European ports.”

Detrimental effect?

In April, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) agreed that the shipping industry must halve its GHG emissions by 2050.

The EU’s 2014 Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Directive requiring member states to build a comprehensive LNG infrastructure across European ports will make the decarbonisation of shipping an even more challenging transition for the industry, the study warns.

If investments in LNG infrastructure are made now expecting a large LNG market for shipping, but the sector is subsequently required to switch to zero-emission technologies like hydrogen, ammonia and electric propulsion, then significant LNG assets will likely become stranded by 2050, it stressed.

Source: GreenPort

Escola reunites logistics professionals in the second edition of the technical course on Groupage and Consolidation Centres

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From the 18th to the 20th of June the second edition of the technical course “Groupage and Consolidation Centres” of the Escola took place in Barcelona. This course edition was designed specifically for operators from a rapidly expanding sector: maritime groupage.

The course offered by the Escola is pioneering and innovative; it combines information on all the casuistry, processes, documentation and legislation that apply to a door-to-door groupage operation. The contents of the lectures vary from the characteristics of a warehouse, equipment and packaging, to import and export procedures, including technologies related to the operations as well as quality specifications. The participants have learned all about how groupage operations work, what actors are involved, what are the tendencies and the segmentation of the sector, as well as what are the key aspects necessary in contracting and managing efficient door-to-door groupage operations.

The participants from this course edition came from a diverse list of companies: Mercadona, transport and logistics companies Fercam, Bolloré Spain, Across Logistics, Transglory and Rheneus, and Kadion, as well as representatives from the Escola Europea itself.

With the goal of offering up-to-date and real contents, the Escola has once again sought the collaboration of speakers from specialized companies: Ernesto Romeu, president of the Romeu Group; Pablo Auger and Bernat Baruquer, director and head of customs and AEO of IFS International Forwarding respectively; Josep Carles Llagostera, the administrator of Customs of Barcelona; David Farzón, head of the consultancy and training department of Ibercóndor; Silvia Pueyo, general director of Globelink Uniexco; Alfonso Santa Isabel, commercial director of TM2; Jorge Selma, a lawyer specialized in maritime law, land and air transport; and Chelo Otero, commercial and marketing director of Portic.

The theoretical presentations were complemented by practical visits to local consolidation centres (ncl and IFS), as well as to one of Port of Barcelona’s container terminals – BEST.

The participants were satisfied with the course and would recommend it to professionals who have recently become involved in the sector. In the words of one of the participants from the Mercadona chain: “I liked the course, the sessions were very interesting and I have discovered a totally new world through your course.”

Sustainability and digital transformation – future challenges for Spanish shipping companies

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Spanish ship owners live a moment of technological transformation and digitalization, dependent on the impact of environmental regulations on their activities.

The environmental sustainability of logistics chains has become a key factor for logistics management in all of its business segments.

For maritime transport, in particular, during the last months there has been a regulatory avalanche in this regard that has placed sustainability in the foreground. This was seem through the ballast water agreement or the reduction of sulfur content in marine fuels, as well as through the new CO2 reduction targets.

In this sense, as Alejandro Aznar, the president of the Spanish Association of Shipping Lines – Anave, said in the general assembly of the association that took place this week in Madrid: “The contribution of maritime transport to the sustainability of the world economy will be extraordinary.”

Maritime transport, as indicated by the president of the Spanish shipping companies, who was re-elected for a second term of three years as the head of Anave, is a sector “subject to a market and globalized regulations that force it to make huge investments.”

Precisely in this context, the sector claims that the rules for the reduction of polluting emissions that will be adopted “should take into account their possible side effects in other areas”, as, according to Aznar, is the case of the short sea shipping traffic, which, in his opinion, “if not given special treatment, it is very likely that the imposition of harsh measures may result in the transfer of charges from the maritime mode to the road, which then would result, in reality, in increasing emissions “.

Similarly, the president also insisted on the proposals that Anave has been making year after year to strengthen the competitiveness of vessels navigating under the Spanish flag and that follow the lines marked in this area by the recent experiences of the Madeira registry and of Denmark.

Aznar also highlighted that in 2017 the Spanish control merchant fleet increased by four units and by 1.1% in its tonnage, a slight growth that contrasts with the strong increase registered in the first months of 2018, when according to their data, the Spanish shipowners have received two new LNG tankers, a Suezmax tanker and a passenger ship.

In addition, 18 orders for eight different shipowners totaling almost 800,000 GT and worth 1,300 million euros remain in the order book for the coming months.

In the same sense, Anastasios Papagiannopoulos, president of Bimco who was present at the Anave assembly, stressed the digital transformation and the need to standardize the exchange of documentation at a global level within the framework of a sector that evolves to the future challenges in terms of activity, but whose most prominent risk is that of overcapacity.

In this sense, the president of Bimco estimated that the demand for maritime transport of petroleum products will have a better performance in the second half of 2018, without reaching positive figures, while the solid bulk segment already shows clear signs of recovery on the international scene.

Finally, at the Anave assembly, the Carus Excellence Award 2018 was presented to Antonio Armas, president and CEO of Naviera Armas, for his contribution to the maritime transport sector of travelers and merchandise.

Source: Cadena de Suministro