As persistent high oil prices and the
burden of increased regulatory compliance have rendered energy management
strategy development crucial for fleet owners worldwide, the shipping industry
is on the verge of a new frontier where novel concepts and sophisticated
approaches to ship design and performance verification methods emerge.
The world’s major ship building nations
agree that a combination of a stubborn global recession and high fuel prices
which affect global trade and impact newbuilding orders require innovative
thinking, creative strategies and investments in R&D to create the
foundations for a new generation of shipping infrastructure which will be more
resilient to fluctuating heavy fuel prices and more adaptable to alternative
forms of energy.
“Market conditions are not very good at
the moment and there doesn’t seem to be a quick-fix solution to the challenges
facing the global shipping sector,” said Oh-Yoon Kwon, General Manager of the
International Cooperation Department for the Korean Shipbuilders’ Association
(KOSHIPA), which is represented at this year’s Posidonia exhibition with eight
of its nine members. First-time Posidonia exhibitor Dae Sun is one of
Korea
’s ship yards
which has felt the pinch from the reduced number of newbuilding orders from
Greek shipowners.
Greek or not, owners or suppliers, the
world’s shipping industry is fast adapting to a new era of fleet management
solutions to improve performance and enhance margins; from newbuilding designs
to ship conversions and macro level energy management strategies, shipping
embraces bold thinking and innovative technologies to tow itself forward.
At Namura, a major Japanese shipbuilder
who is also present at this year’s Posidonia, they are near the end of a three
year Green Ship Project designed to break new grounds in fuel consumption
efficiency. “Every owner is interested to cut costs down so we are trying to brash
up the standard design and develop new
technologies that help reduce CO2 levels
and fuel consumption by 30 per cent,” said Kazutomo Taguchi from the planning
and development department of Namura Shipbuilding.
The Japanese company has heavily invested
in R&D to develop energy efficient designs that include higher efficiency
propellers, electronically controlled main engines, improved superstructure
shapes that reduce air resistance and rudder fins.
Experts agree that while innovative
design is a key component for the fleet of the future, a more holistic and
strategic approach is required by fleet owners and the industry at large in
order to optimize the benefits for the sector and global trade at large.
“Whatever the price of heavy fuel is in
the future and no matter which type of fuel will prevail in years to come,
shipowners need to adopt long-term strategies based on informed investment
decisions which take into account their bespoke energy needs, potential
fuel-saving areas and acquire a good understanding of future fuel types,” said
Nicholas Brown, Marine Communications Manager, Lloyd’s Register.
“In an increasingly complex world, the
industry needs more sophisticated approaches to design and verification and
Greek and international companies have already adopted tools such as our
international energy management standard ISO 50001 in order to track and verify
their fleets’ performance,” he said.
On the flip side, high energy prices
have been a bonus for niche maritime infrastructure manufacturers with
Singapore
seeing a
strong growth in its oil rig making and Floating Production Storage and
Offloading (FPSO) sectors. “Our ship yards are very busy with a lot of offshore
oil rig orders for the oil majors. We are investing in the expansion of our
existing facilities and development of new infrastructure both at home and away
to be able to cope with demand as our yards have existing orders for delivery
up to 2015,” said Winnie Low, Executive Director, Association of Singapore
Marine Owners.
Singapore
,
Japan
and
Korea
are three of
the 20 countries which have fielded national pavilions at Posidonia 2012, the
biggest shipping trade event in the world, which was officially inaugurated
yesterday by Greek Prime Minister Mr. Panayiotis Pikramenos. More than 1,870
exhibitors from 87 countries are present at the event which is taking place at
the Metropolitan Expo Centre from June 4 – 8. More than 17,000 shipping
executives are expected to visit the show.
Posidonia 2012 is sponsored by the
Greek Ministry of Development, Competitiveness and Shipping, the
Municipality
of
Piraeus
, the Hellenic
Chamber of Shipping, the Union of Greek Shipowners, the Greek Shipping
Co-operation Committee, the Hellenic Shortsea Shipowners’ Association and the
Association of Greek Passenger Shipping Companies.