NGO vs. shipowners: Hand in hand for clean shipping?

"Is the maritime industry doing enough to decarbonise shipping?" A question to be discussed by the public NGO panel during gmec, the global maritime environmental congress, on 7 September from 4:00pm to 5:30pm. Among the panel members will be Sönke Diesener from the environmental organisation Nabu. He takes issue with the ‘greenwashing’ practiced by many cruise operators: “The fact that most ships are still powered by dirty heavy fuel oil is a scandal in view of the operator’s lip service to environmental protection.” On the NGO panel, Diesener will be discussing with the likes of Hansjörg Kunze, VP Communication at AIDA Cruises,whose company is considered a pioneer of green propulsion technology. Two ships of the ADIA fleet operate on liquefied natural gas (LNG). Can Kunze imagine installing hydrogen fuel cells on board AIDA’s cruise ships? And what ideas can Thomas Wiese, Director Strategy & Innovation at Siemens Energy Marine, propose to implement clean shipping? Lars Robert Pedersen, Deputy Secretary General of the international shipping association BIMCO, will contribute his organisation’s views on alternative propulsion concepts, and Rolls-Royce technology expert Dr Daniel Chatterjee will outline what is technically possible today.

View the entire gmec agenda here. The NGO panel discussion will be open to the general public. Tickets are available at 25 euros instead of the usual panel ticket price of 330 euros, and include access to the trade fair on 7 September. For an overview of all prices go here. On 9 September, the day of the Maritime Career Market (MCM), secondary school and university students have free access to SMM. The MCM brings together employers and job seekers for the benefit of both.