Cruise & Ferry Review - Autumn/Winter 2020

IMO is introducing new regulations and targets to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slow down global warming DWT is agreeable for the heavy cargo carrier as it will typically max out and thus get a low CO 2 /DWT x nm value. But the more volume-orientated ship will run out of space before it runs out of DWT, so the value rating will always be poorer and unfair regardless of how efficiently it is run. The complexity is even greater for ro-pax ships and high-speed craft. How do you apportion the fuel consumption between types of cargo carried – people, vehicles, freight units – and then start comparing ships’ performance? Our industry has been very heavily involved in helping the IMO to find a fair path forward, with great support from Member States. Nevertheless, the plethora of one-off ferry designs leads me to conclude that a good outcome can only be reached if the solution recognises the sector-specific variations of ferry design and operation. To that end, when IMO sessions resume after the Covid-19 hiatus, we will suggest that CO 2 efficiency for ferries should be measured on an individual ship basis. This would contrast with the normal practice in less diverse segments, where ships are measured against an established average performance for that sector. The calculation would be based on the fuel consumption and distance sailed by the ferry in an agreed base year – probably 2008 – coupled with the vessel’s volume in gross tonnage (gt) and expressed as kilograms CO 2 per gt x nm. This value is what the ferry then has to beat to meet the IMO targets. It doesn’t matter if the savings come from new technology, low-carbon fuels, slow steaming, shore power, hybridisation or just more clever operational practices. With such a truly goal-based approach, ferry operators can explore the most cost-efficient solutions in a far more appropriate, less complicated way compared with design criteria like the Energy Efficiency Design Index. Finally, a warning. Having spent 15 years on the topic, the European Union is pushing the IMO to have everything in place by 2023, so decisions must be taken during 2021. The international maritime community must now act uncomfortably fast to ensure that this really is the end of the beginning in our collective CO 2 reduction mission. CFR Johan Roos is director of international regulatory affairs at Interferry 1 0 2 V IEWPOINT