Shipping sector prioritises five solutions for decarbonisation

The Shell-Deloitte report presents five solutions for decarbonisation of the shipping sector. Photo: AFP

The “Decarbonising Shipping: All Hands on Deck” report sets out the views of senior shipping executives from across the sector and presents a roadmap of solutions to help the industry meet the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) ambition to reduce carbon emissions.

“We know that shipping is one of the harder sectors to decarbonise, which is why we are working with our customers and the wider industry to identify possible solutions,’’ said Huibert Vigeveno, Downstream director of Shell.

“This report shows the urgent effort required by the industry to reduce carbon emissions. It stems from Shell’s own ambition to be a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050 or sooner. To achieve that, we need to work with our customers,” he noted.

An overwhelming 95 per cent of shipping executives interviewed view decarbonisation as important or a top-three priority and nearly 80 per cent noted that its importance had increased significantly over the past 18 months.

Aside with this, 85 per cent of interviewees saw market and customer demand as a major factor driving change towards decarbonisation.

80 per cent of interviewees saw technology alignment as a major factor in making decarbonisation feasible, meanwhile, 65 per cent of interviewees saw ease of replacing infrastructure as a major factor in being able to make change happen at speed and scale.

Grahaeme Henderson, vice president Shell Shipping and Maritime, said, "While shipping leaders are rightly focused on the current challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, our research shows that they still have their sights on the horizon and identify decarbonising shipping as a top priority."

According to Grahaeme, in conducting this unique study involving detailed interviews with more than 80 of shipping’s top executives, the shipping leaders have been able to better understand the views of their customers and the broader shipping sector.

“The research identified the barriers the industry faces, solutions that will drive progress, and how we can work to help accelerate change. We want to catalyse progress towards a net-zero emissions shipping industry and working together will be crucial to implementing these solutions,” Grahaeme added.

Tarek Helmi, partner, Deloitte Netherlands, said, “The insights from the research give us a comprehensive roadmap to unlock decarbonisation by identifying who needs to do what and when to drive change.”

Based on in-depth interviews with senior shipping executives across Europe, Asia, and North America, the report presents a consolidated roadmap of how to accelerate the decarbonisation of the shipping sector. It prioritises five solutions to be implemented over the next two to three years that could speed up progress.

The five solutions involve scaling up customer demand, forming a global regulatory alignment, doing cross-sector research and development, scaling up controlled pilot projects, and enhancing co-ordinated industry commitment.

In addition, operational efficiency is identified as the foundation for the transition process, enabling reduced emissions from the current fleet through the accelerated implementation of operational measures. This includes fuel and lubricant quality, digitalisation, and the use of data and smart navigation strategies.

The “All Hands on Deck” report is part of a wider project of collaboration between Shell and Deloitte to look at other hard-to-abate sectors and explore views on barriers to decarbonisation and potential solutions.