While scientists and politicians continue to argue about whether global warming is actually global cooling and whether “carbon” is harmful or beneficial and sharp business minds think about the profits generated by “market based methods”, the marine industry just gets on with the design and construction of cleaner and greener ships. It is worth pointing out that this is not some future “pie in the sky” or wishful thinking, but the shipping  industry moving surprisingly fast to convert sustainable ideas into the reality of improved ships.
Examine virtually any technical journal in our maritime field and be prepared to be impressed by descriptions of new generations of ships and equipment, along with design breakthroughs that are moving rapidly from the conceptual stage into reality. This is not a maritime industry that has to be dragged kicking and screaming into more sustainable operation, but a technically aware and astute sector that is prepared to embrace innovation which will deliver both sustainability and efficiency.
Let us look at just a few examples. Not more than a couple of years ago, experiments were being undertaken using “air lubrication” to lower resistance and friction between a ship’s hull and the surrounding sea she is moving through. It looked promising and full-scale experiments on large module-carriers suggested that useful fuel saving could be generated in such a fashion. Now comes news that two very large cruise vessels building in Japan will see air lubrication systems designed by Mitsubishi incorporated. Thus the concept, which curiously was first employed in icebreakers to help smooth the progress of a ship through ice, has been recognised as a substantial fuel-saver. Fuel saving matters, but up to 25% reduction in CO2 emissions matters as much.
Ten years ago, to suggest that a 65,000 DWT bulk carrier could be run at a 14.5 knots service speed and burn less than 30 tons of fuel per day would have seemed fantasy. There are new ships already in service delivering such a performance, a consequence of hull design, with particular emphasis on bow and aftship shape and propeller improvements. Dramatic improvements in the performance of marine diesels are making it possible to operate such a vessel at 26 tons/day. Machinery is being designed to greatly reduce both SOx and NOx emissions and improvements are continuing.
These are not “concept” ships, but vessels which are in service and under construction and can effectively be considered the “new norm”. They might also be considered the fruit of a great deal of integrated design work right across the industry, which has seen every aspect of the ship, from its trim to its hydrodynamics, main machinery, structure and equipment, experiencing a surge of innovative thinking. The fact that this is being undertaken during a period when rewards from the operation of ships are, to say the least, poor, is even more remarkable.
But the reality of these changes and improvements and their effects upon the environmental footprints of commercial shipping is worth emphasising when ill-informed comment suggests that the maritime industry is dragging its feet over sustainability. Nothing could be further from the truth!
Source: BIMCO