As the rush to meet shipping’s urgent need for decarbonisation technology raises pressure and stakes across the board, this is not the time for cutting corners, writes Ina Reksten, deputy CEO and COO at Yara Marine Technologies.
The past few years have witnessed a significant increase in regulatory pressure surrounding emissions, with ambitious targets set by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). However, shipping stakeholders continue to be apprehensive about the substantial costs associated with decarbonisation.
The green technology sector finds itself under a heightened obligation to deliver reliable solutions while at the same time facing the challenges of urgency and limited investment appetite.
And while having the right technology is key, it also needs time to develop and mature. Managing expectations as to what problems a technology can resolve, and how quickly, requires commitment from all parties.
Securing the industrial base
Current market conditions are impacted by numerous challenges — renewable energy projects are still fine-tuning to become sustainable, there are shortages in several key components, from high-voltage cables to microchips which impacts ongoing projects in several regions. We see regional imbalances in manufacturing capacity and access to key materials which have been further emphasized by the supply chain and energy security issues that have emerged since the arrival of covid.
Without care, these effects already felt by ship technology providers and customers, could be a serious impediment to delivering the decarbonisation solutions that shipping must have. Robust supply chains and manufacturing bases are critical to ensure that technologies can be delivered and deployed at scale. The newly minted term ‘friendshoring’ – or rerouting of supply chains to countries with perceived low political and economic risk – reflects the greater emphasis on carefully chosen supply chain partners.
But when it comes to nurturing new technology, the industrial base is just one element of the business that needs attention.
Shoring up resilience
Scaling up technologies to meet industry demands means not only having a good supply chain in place and skilled workforces in shipyards and manufacturing facilities, but also thinking about how to get installations done. That involves understanding the timelines that ship owners and operators are working with, so that challenges related to fulfilling specifications and achieve efficient lead times are resolved and do not become obstacles to operationalize new technology and solutions.
This calls for collaboration and commitment from both customer and supplier since installation work is global, labor intensive and requires planning – sometimes on very short notice.
Putting new solutions and technology to use also means understanding the long-term goals of customers. Having support through the asset lifecycle and, if needed, to plan step-by-step upgrades that reflect the required pace of emissions reduction is a significant and crucial part of the delivery.
Whether across the supply chain or with your customers, nourishing partnerships is key. However, there is often a key difference. While any part of your supply chain will be seeking to build strong relationships (and stronger sales), customers need a solid reason to invest in a partnership in which they are the paying party. Selecting the suppliers that can deliver over the opportunists means spending a significant amount of time and asking the right questions to what sometimes can seem like a jungle of prospective technology providers. Yara Marine Technologie’s ambition is to enable our customers mitigate the burden of this process by being a trusted supplier and partner that can deliver multiple solutions and also be there to support across the vessel’s life.
The necessity of trust
It starts with trust. Every day, upcoming regulations and reporting requirements are getting closer, and so is the need for solutions that work. Yet all around the shipping industry we see delay in investment decisions, equipment deliveries and ship projects. With several new technologies existing mostly on the drawing table and with limited testing availability it takes a leap of faith to install new solutions and then risk that the technology is not working to expectations when it is finally in operation.
The industry is competitive, and in such an environment it is easy to give in to promises of emissions reductions, cost savings and that the crew will not even notice your solution as it revolutionizes ship operations. However, the reality looks a lot different. To build the reputation of a technology, and a company, suppliers should instead focus on trust based on transparency in respect of performance and challenges.
Any new technology should be rigorously tested in advance, confirmed in operation and verified at all stages. Shipowners and operators want to see results for emissions reduction and as a supplier, we need to be careful that we can meet their standards. Nothing undermines trust – or willingness to embark on the ambitious decarbonisation route the industry needs – more than overhyped technology that fails to deliver. According to the reports published in splash247.com .
So the challenge for technology in maritime is twofold. Secure your technology delivery and safeguard your reputation. Decarbonisation is a long game and to enable efficient emissions reduction technology to emerge and expand, we all need to have faith in what the industry can achieve by working together, and that starts and continues with trust.
