LR teams up with Greeks on new GHG endeavour
Representatives from the founding members of the M-ERC at the launch event in Athens (Source: LR)
The Lloyd’s Register (LR) Maritime Decarbonisation Hub and five Greek ship owning groups are setting up a new Maritime Emissions Reduction Centre (M-ERC) in Athens to focus on raising the efficiency of existing ships and cutting their greenhouse gas emissions.
The Maritime Decarbonisation Hub is cooperating with Capital Group, Navios Maritime Partners, Neda Maritime Agency, Star Bulk, and Thenamaris. More companies are expected to join the setup in the coming months.
The M-ERC will focus on removing technical, investment, and community barriers to energy-saving initiatives. It aims to ensure that today’s ships are suitable for the energy transition and that the people within the industry have the necessary training and skills.
These goals will be achieved through research and collaboration with shipyards and original equipment manufacturers in parallel with M-ERC’s work across society, ports, and seafarer organisations to underpin upskilling and awareness among seafarer and shore-based staff.
Nick Brown, CEO of Lloyd’s Register, commented: "Whilst there is much uncertainty on future fuels, the one clarity is that the less fuel used, benefits us today and beyond 2050. We need to explore every possible efficiency gain from the current fleet that we can."
"Energy-saving technologies and operational practices will play the primary role in delivering the 30% reduction of emissions targeted by the IMO in just six years from now," he continued. "So we need to make every upcoming dry-docking count, and the Maritime Emissions Reduction Centre in Athens will support our industry to evaluate and implement existing and new solutions."
Evangelos Marinakis, chairman and founder of Capital Maritime & Trading Corp., added: "We are proud to be a part of this alliance that aims to establish an ecosystem for research and innovation in the shipping industry in Greece. The energy transition in the shipping industry is a challenge that necessitates collective forces. The Maritime Emissions Reduction Centre is the implementation act of this initiative, and it is our duty to participate in this first-movers' alliance, an international decarbonisation maritime hub, where knowledge, skills, innovation, and research are shared. Its goal is to collaboratively work towards achieving a feasible, safe, and sustainable decarbonisation pathway for the maritime fleet."
