COMMENTARY Interferry is collaborating with other key industry stakeholders to lead the global ferry industry to a decarbonised future Striving for meaningful CII adjustments Interferry’s Johan Roos explains the global trade association’s mission to enhance the part ferries play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions Just before the pandemic hit in early 2020, the maritime community had started to develop the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) short-term greenhouse gas (GHG) measures, encompassing targets and requirements between 2023 and 2030. In doing so, IMO Member States, shipowners, ship operators, green non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders picked up the gauntlet of the European Commission’s so-called European Green Deal. Even with the new remote working and ‘virtual meetings’ setting, I was cautiously optimistic that we could get the job done. However, key elements of the requirements that are due in force from 1 January 2023 are still of great concern to the ferry sector. Back in 2010 when developing the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI), IMO Member States applied a continuous ‘fair and robust’ litmus test – the instrument had to reward organisations for doing the right thing and could not be circumvented. In contrast, this cannot be said of the well-intended, but ill-informed, Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII). This regulation looks at the annual fuel consumption for a ship of a given size in relation to the nautical miles it sails, and compares that with the average for ships in the same category. The ship is then given an annual rating ranging from A to E. If your ship’s mileage and consumption is around the average for vessels of similar size within its segment, it will be rated C – the middle of the pack. With fair winds and following seas throughout the year, the ship might achieve an A rating, but above-average returns for fuel per nautical mile could find it in the dreaded E category for the given year. Within months you must then demonstrate a remedial action plan to class societies and flag states. However, taking a ship’s performance in the previous year as the basis for required improvements in the following year is fraught with problems. Firstly, it does not recognise actual utilisation of the ship – the hallmark of any JOHAN ROOS Swedish national Johan Roos holds an environmental sciences master’s degree from the University of Gothenburg. He has previously worked at both DNV and Stena Line, and was Stena Rederi’s director of sustainability from 20062011 before becoming regulatory affairs director for Interferry. 8 8
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