ECMAR news from October 2009

AP Moller-Maersk saves $500m with slow steaming

AP Moller-Maersk saved a total of $500m in bunker costs so far this year through slow steaming and other efficiency measures. The containership company, which is aiming for a 35% total reduction in terms of carbon emissions per containership by 2017, says it has already achieved a 15% reduction through reduced fuel consumption. Source: Lloyd's List, 26 October 2009.

Shipbuilding: Innovation is the way ahead

A recent High Level Meeting called by the Vice-President of the European Commission, Mr G. Verheugen, issued preliminary conclusions of the Study on the Competitiveness of the EU Shipbuilding Industry. A continuous renewal of product and process technologies through RDI activities, benchmarking and market research, including improved technical co-operation in the maritime supply chain, is continuously being pursued by the European marine equipment industries.

Brussels agrees to hold fire on shipping emissions intervention

Three maritime nations, Greece, Cyprus and Malta, have convinced their European Union partners give the International Maritime Organization another year to come up with measures for reducing shipping's contribution to climate change. The EU Council of Environment Ministers, meeting in Luxembourg, decided all work should be channelled through the IMO as long as a solution was "agreed in 2010 and approved by 2011". In exchange for these commitments the three maritime nations dropped their objections to a 20% reduction target for the maritime sector below 2005 levels by 2020. Source: Lloyd's List: 22 October, 2009

Carbon capture design trials start on ships

The UK software and consultancy company Process Systems Enterprise is to examine fitting large ships with carbon capture and storage technology to curb emissions. It will use computer modelling and simulations to show how different carbon capture and storage systems would work on ships during a 2-year research project. The Maritime CCS project is being run as part of a European collaborative research programme, Eurostars, and is being part-funded by the UK’s Technology Strategy Board. Professional Engineering: 9 September 2009