Energy efficiency in shipping – why it matters!

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All industries are looking to becoming cleaner, greener and more energy efficient – and shipping is no exception. Improved energy efficiency means less fuel is used, and that means less harmful emissions.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) – the United Nations specialized agency with responsibility for safe, secure and environment-friendly shipping – is leading a European Union funded project designed to help shipping move into a new era of low-carbon operation.

IMO has launched a video outlining how the Global MTCC Network (GMN) initiative is uniting technology centres – Maritime Technology Cooperation Centres (MTCCs) – in targeted regions into a global network. Together, they are promoting technologies and operations to improve energy efficiency in the maritime sector.

“This project is one of the building blocks that will help shipping becoming greener,” says Magda Kopczynska, Director, DG MOVE, European Commission.

Five MTCCs have been established in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America and the Pacific. Acting as centres of excellence for their regions, the MTCCs will work with partners to develop technical cooperation, capacity building and technology transfer – sharing the results and their experiences throughout the network to ensure a common approach to a global issue.

Innovative programmes and projects are being developed and carried out by the MTCCs – all designed to promote energy-efficient technologies and operations.

Developing countries and, in particular, Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States, will be the main beneficiaries of this ambitious initiative.

For regions particularly vulnerable to the impact of climate change, it’s a chance to get involved in promoting technologies and operations to improve energy efficiency in the maritime sector.

“When we saw this project, we saw it as an opportunity to build partnership throughout the region to mitigate, at least in the maritime sector, the impacts of climate change,” says Vivian Rambarath-Parasram, Head of MTCC-Caribbean.

Estimates say ships’ energy consumption and CO2 emissions could be reduced by up to 75% by applying operational measures and implementing existing technologies. The GMN is on the cutting edge of climate-change mitigation – and, at the same time, opening up a world of opportunities for those who participate in it.

“We’re looking forward to building capacity for not just Kenya but for the African region in general – to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, to improve air quality in our port cities,” says Nancy W. Karigithu, Principal Secretary Maritime and Shipping Affairs, Kenya.

By promoting technologies and operations to improve energy efficiency in the maritime sector and helping navigate shipping into a low-carbon future, the GMN project is steering a course for a cleaner, greener future.

The GMN project is funded by the European Union and implemented by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

MTCCs:

  • MTCC-Africa, hosted by Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Mombasa, Kenya
  • MTCC-Asia, hosted by Shanghai Maritime University, China
  • MTCC-Caribbean, hosted by University of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and Tobago
  • MTCC-Latin America, hosted by International Maritime University of Panama, Panama
  • MTCC-Pacific, hosted by Pacific Community, Suva, Fiji

Source: Hellenic Shipping News

The Escola Europea puts the TransLogMED Project into full throttle

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This spring has brought a lot of activity for the Escola, both nationally and internationally. Apart from planning and carrying out the traditional courses in intermodal transport, the Escola Europea – Intermodal Transport has multiplied its efforts to promote the ambitious project TransLogMED throughout the Mediterranean.

This week during the SITL conference in Paris (France), the Escola has shared a stand with the Port of Barcelona, Grimaldi Lines and ALIS, and was able to present the courses created specifically to train representatives from the transport sector of North Africa (Tunis, Morocco and Argelia) in intermodal logistics to the French public.

Simultaneously, between the 21st and the 22nd of March, the VII Spanish-Moroccan meeting was held in Tangier, organized by the Spanish Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Tangier, with the aim of bringing together Spanish and Moroccan companies from the Maritime, Transport and Logistics sectors to promote collaboration with Moroccan official institutions and organizations. A delegation from the Escola, formed by its director Eduard Rodés, Xavier Lluch, Responsible for the TransLogMED project and Idriss Aarabi, Exploitation Director of Tanger Med, presented the project to attendees of the meeting. In addition there was also a large selection of institutional presentations, among which was one given by Ana Arévalo, the Commercial Manager of the Port of Barcelona, who stressed the fundamental role of training in boosting the maritime economy of North African countries.

In May the Escola’s team will travel to the city of Marrakech, home of the Logismed International Logistics Fair (9-11 May), where it will have its own stand dedicated to the TransLogMED project, labelled by the UfM (Union for the Mediterranean).

From a more operational point of view, it is interesting to note the next MOST TUNISIA course organized jointly with the IMFMM (Institut Méditerranéen de Formation aux Métiers Maritimes), with the help of the Escola’s usual collaborators (Port of Barcelona, Ports of Genoa, Ports of Rome, Grandi Navi Veloci (GNV) and Grimaldi Lines) and, on the Tunisian side, the Office of the Merchant Navy (l’Office de la Marina Marchande) , Cotunav, Stam and Transglory. The training will be carried out on board of two vessels, one from GNV and the other from Cotunav, which cover the route between La Goulette and Genoa. Participants will gather in the IMFMM headquarters in Tunisia to begin their theoretical training in intermodal transport and logistics and then embark in the port of La Goulette to continue the training on board of the vessel, and later on in the city of Genoa.

The teaching staff will comprise experts in intermodal maritime logistics active within the local and international maritime industry, as well as representatives of the institutional sector.

For more information you can consult the project page https://escolaeuropea.eu/projects/translogmed//.