LISW25’s newest addition designed to reflect the truly international nature of the week, the Global Hub played host to a day of networking, seminars and conferences on Tuesday, with events focusing on carbon net zero and maritime’s journey to decarbonisation.
Hosted at the iconic County Hall on London’s South Bank, the LISW25 Global Hub acted as a major focal point yesterday, welcoming global industry leaders and senior government figures, with Ministers and Ambassadors joining the international delegations coming in from across the maritime world.
The scale of engagement reflected LISW’s status as a truly international gathering, with an estimated 47 official delegations attending to exchange ideas and strengthen partnerships.
An exciting programme of events kicked off the day, including two sessions held by IR Class (Indian Register of Shipping); a special reception hosted by Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani), and London Talks returned for its second day delving into the topic of postcards from the future of diversity and inclusion in shipping with visionary futurist Anne-Lise Kjaer.
Ms Kjaer delivered a keynote talk to create clarity out of the many and complex global trends and their impact on people, business and society in shipping, with particular focus on how DEI may be mapped out in the years to come.
The first IR Class session was titled Reimagining Seafaring: Elevating Maritime Careers and looked at what the maritime industry needed to do to attract the new generation of young talent to the sector.
Its second session examined the pros and cons of the nuclear power route at great length, with the panel in agreement there was much work needed to be done to win over the public, as well as admitting the cost of development being huge.
Elsewhere, the vital role of maritime pilots In salvage was explored by the UK’S Secretary of State’s Representative for Maritime Salvage and Intervention (SOSREP)
SOHAR Port and Freezone, a 50/50 JV between Asyad Group and Port of Rotterdam also held a talk – showcasing maritime excellence from Sultanate of Oman. Discussion centered around Oman’s strengths as a globally connected and resilient maritime hub.
Discussions continued in the afternoon with London Talks third session focussing on the competence of personnel and safety management for safe operations of alternative-fuelled ships.
The panel, consisting of Steve Burthom, Manager, Fleet Management, Shell Shipping and Maritime, John Lloyd, CEO, The Nautical Institute, Mark O’Neil, President & CEO, Columbia Shipmanagement, and Lars Robert Pederson, Deputy Secretary General, BIMCO, discussed how the industry can ensure crews are fully compliant in handling new fuels.
DFDS Ferries also saw a packed audience listen to their fascinating event on Electrifying the Short Straits: Charting the Course to a Green Corridor. Guests heard DFDS and industry leaders from Societe Generale, NatPower, French International Register, and the Port of Dover discuss how the world’s busiest shipping lane is on the brink of transformation. The panel discussed how ports must evolve to power and support electric vessels; the readiness and resilience of shipowners to adapt and invest; and building energy infrastructure that’s reliable, scalable, and sustainable.
Across the corridor, global leader in turbocharging technologies Accelleron called for shipping to pool carbon-neutral fuel demand with other industries to hit the net zero goal as it presented a new report to during its session Breaking the Carbon Neutral Fuel Deadlock to Accelerate to Net Zero.
In its first report on maritime decarbonisation, Accelleron’s Deadlock: What’s Stopping Shipping’s Carbon Neutral Fuel transition argues that “viral” efficiency measures such as vessel retrofits and digital solutions across the largest ships in the global fleet should be enough to reach the IMO’s carbon reduction targets for 2030.
The report said for deeper decarbonisation leading to net zero, shipping will need to switch to green hydrogen-based fuels, which today are scarce and prohibitively expensive.
The report findings included:
Technical and operational efficiency measures could cut emissions by over 30% by 2030, exceeding the IMO target.
By 2050, shipping alone will need 100-150 million tons of green hydrogen each year
Shipping, aviation, steel, cement, power, and agriculture account for about 70% of global emissions and would need a total of around 500 million tons of green hydrogen and $9 trillion in cumulative investment to produce it.
Only about 38 million tons of green hydrogen production are currently in the pipeline, supported by less than $320 billion in committed investment.
Panelist Matt Dunlop, Group Director, Sustainability & Decarbonisation at V. Group, Strategic Partner, Secondee, Mærsk Mc‑Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping, said before we accelerate to Net Zero we need to start by walking and called for standardisation to drive forward carbon net zero emissions.
“We can’t be in a situation where have different jurisdictions having different standards. We need a global standard across the whole industry,”
As the Global Hub drew to a close for the day one of the final sessions was held by Stax Engineering: Lessons from the Golden State – Charting a Course for Greener Maritime Futures.
The panel consisting of Mike Walker, CEO, STAX Engineering, Chris Hessler, former advisor to the US Senate Environment Committee Chair, Geraint Evans, CEO, UK Major Ports Group, Jake Storey, CFO, Harwich Haven Authority, explored the UK’s leadership in maritime decarbonisation and sustainability, drawing insights from California’s pioneering environmental policies.
Looking ahead to 2050 and what a truly green maritime industry looks like, Mr Evans said: “We are all on a journey. But I think it will be driven by CAPEX and OPEX, the economics of this has to be right. Without weighing into the politics, I think it is particularly acute in the UK because you have large plots of deprivation in coastal spots which are very close to our ports, and some of the politics that is driving some of the agendas is being seen is most acute in some of these communities. Whatever we do we have to take our communities with us, we need a joint government and an industry sector approach.”
Source: LISW25