More than 30 maritime industry technical leaders attended the 34th Hellenic Marine Technical Committee Meeting of Bureau Veritas Piraeus on Monday 05th December 2022 at Grand Hyatt Hotel, Athens. The meeting was hosted by Mr. George Andreadis, Marine Chief Executive Greece and was chaired by the Committee Chairman, Mr. George Sarris, President of Enterprises Shipping & Trading S.A.

The event was opened with Mr. Vassilis Dimoulas, Technology and Innovation Manager for Greece, Cyprus and Malta who provided a thorough update on the application of the upcoming IMO regulations; EEXI and CII and the challenges faced with the various power limitation options and CII corrections.. Mr. Konstantinos Chatzitolios, Project Development Leader, Greece, Cyprus & Malta, Bureau Veritas, presented a study of the world fleet performance trends, including CII for the last 3 years, revealing the sectors and subsectors with the best and worst performance as well as the possible reasons behind. Vassilios Dimoulas finished the first session with another study that examined the benefits of using biofuels in the CII and EU ETS as well as the related cost for three different ship types. A lively open discussion followed, about the application of the EEXI power limitation.

The second session of the Committee commenced with guest speaker Dr. Sangram K. Nanda, General Manager Product Management & Engineering from Wärtsilä Services, who presented this prominent maker’s solutions for retrofits aimed at decarbonizing the existing fleet. He was followed by Dr John Kokarakis, Technology & Business Development Director of South East Europe, Black Sea and Adriatic Zone Bureau Veritas who set a question of Shakespearean flavor: “To build or not to build? Build the Future-Proof Ship or Retrofit”. The Committee concluded with an open discussion about how owners plan their movements towards meeting the IMO targets for 2030 and 2050 and how this is affecting their fleet renewal plans.

Mr. Andreadis stated: “2022 committee has brought a real sense of momentum. At Bureau Veritas we are pleased to see operational progress. Decarbonization remains equally a key challenge and an amazing opportunity for the industry. At BV, we continue to support our clients. Our mission is to be by our clients’ side and help them navigate the energy transition. We help to perform impact studies of the new IMO regulations, we offer insights through technical seminars, publications, and webinars. It was inspirational to discuss with Greek shipowners who remain committed to help shape the industry of the future.”