The Getting to Zero Coalition has been set up with the aim of developing zero-emission vessels and making them commercially available by 2030. The coalition is an alliance of more than 90 companies within the maritime, energy, infrastructure and finance sectors.
GlobalData’s ship technology writer Frances Marcellin says: “As ships have an expected life of more than 20 years, those operating commercially in 2030 will still be part of the world fleet in 2050 so all efforts will work towards this target date.
“Although the Coalition describes it as ‘maritime shipping’s moon-shot ambition’, it is striving to reach 100% decarbonisation by 2050, in line with the UN International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) strategy to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) by at least 50% of 2008 levels by 2050.
“Man Energy Solutions recently joined the coalition. The company has a dominant position within the merchant ships market, particularly the two-stroke engine. Around 80% of global trade is shipped around the world, accounting for 2%-3% of GHG emissions, and 50% of this figure is transported using MAN Energy Solutions’ engine designs.”
Man Energy Solutions’ senior vice president Bjarne Foldager says: “Unless action is taken these GHG emissions will only increase due to an upturn in the shipping sector.
“UNCTAD confirmed in its Review of Maritime Transport 2018 that seaborne trade volumes reached 10.7 billion tonnes in 2018, up 411 million tonnes compared to the previous year. It estimates yearly growth continue at around 3.8% to 2023.
“In light of this we are taking our role in facilitating the decarbonisation of merchant shipping very seriously.
“If you look who has signed up for this coalition, it’s a wide variety of companies and industries, not only ship owners and technology providers like ourselves, it’s banks, big trade, energy companies, bunker companies, and so on.
“This is quite a good foundation to develop. We strongly believe that the coalition is a good idea for the maritime business, for the environment and for our business as well.”