Today, on the Day of the Seafarer 2023, Wallem would like to express its gratitude to the many talented men and women worldwide whose unwavering commitment to their profession helps to keep ships sailing and goods moving.

Despite the noise around digitalisation, gathering accurate, actionable vessel performance data continues to be a huge issue for shipowners. There are so many optimisation solutions available to owners, each claiming they can save 10-15% of vessel carbon emissions, but there’s no way of judging whether these claims have any value because we can’t know what any of them is being compared to.

As we move past the vertex of a U-shaped dip in the global shipping sector caused by supply chain restrictions arising from the COVID-19 pandemic,  it is worthwhile to look back at the UAE maritime industry’s growth, lessons learned, and development outlook. Although international maritime trade dropped by 4.1 per cent in 2020, the UAE made significant achievements during this period, ranking third globally in the Bunker Supply Index, and fifth globally as a key competitive maritime hub.

Leveraging the capabilities of hybrid propulsion systems to achieve decarbonisation goals

Maritime security is essential to support the Blue Economy in various ways. It refers to protection from threats such as maritime inter-state disputes, terrorism, crimes, narco-trafficking, illegal fishing, arms trafficking, crimes related to the marine environment, and maritime piracy,  which is one of the most significant threats to the growth of ocean-based economies.

The maritime industry is facing an unprecedented challenge of complying with the IMO’s targets for decarbonization, but the milestones of 2030 and 2050 are only part of the story.

Over the years, sustainability has pushed many players and stakeholders in the maritime industry to explore ways to reduce their carbon footprint without sacrificing comfort and functionality. The rising rollout of hybrid propulsion systems in marine vessels is one of the ways that the sector has responded to calls for stricter carbon emission monitoring within the community.  

Some of the world’s largest gas producers are behind moves to cut greenhouse gas emissions along every link in the LNG supply chain – from well to consumer. They are also supporting initiatives that could see every LNG cargo consignment assigned not only a calorific content but also a label, detailing its emissions footprint.

The steady rise of eco-friendly superyachts anywhere in the world points to how sustainability has found its way in the global yachting community. Given the mounting sustainability movement, the future of the industry now lies in its ability to reduce its environmental impact. Overall, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) targets to decrease the carbon footprint of international shipping by at least 40 per cent by 2030 compared to 2008 levels, and by 70 per cent by 2050. The yachting sector has a role to play in meeting and complying with the IMO targets put in place to protect our oceans and marine life.

Today 80 per cent of ammonia produced is used exclusively for the fertiliser industry. However, as pressure is placed on the shipping sector to decarbonise and shift away from reliance on fossil fuels, ammonia is looking like an attractive alternative. If 30 per cent of shipping switched to ammonia as a fuel, then the current production would have to nearly double.