RINA’s Hellenic Advisory Committee (HAC) met once again to discuss how to progress the decarbonisation of the shipping industry. International shipping and domestic navigation represent 3-4% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and decarbonisation is one of the biggest challenges for the industry today. The HAC brings stakeholders together to facilitate finding answers for the future that both reduce emissions and provide shipowners with practical, workable, sustainable solutions that can be implemented today.

In his opening remarks, the Committee Chairman, George Youroukos, owner of Technomar Shipping Inc., highlighted some of RINA’s significant achievements in 2022, such as the doubling of RINA’s fleet at the Pireaus office to more than 19 million GT and at the same time strengthening the team with more employees and experts, offering 360 services to clients.

Ugo Salerno, Chairman and CEO of RINA, also referred to RINA’s corporate achievements in 2022, highlighting the organisation’s revenue targets for 2024 of Euro 875 million well ahead of Euro 664 million in 2022.

Paolo Moretti, CEO of RINA Services, announced that Spyros Zolotas was now RINA’s new Senior Director of the South EMEA Region. Additionally, Moretti shared key achievements in RINA’s marine business, including 70.5 million gross tonnage of Classed ships, a fleet of 8,029 classed vessels, and an order book totalling 3.6 million gross tonnage.

The HAC focussed on three main areas of decarbonisation: Biofuels, carbon capture and storage (CCS), and hydrogen. Alongside RINA experts, speakers included Mauro Risi, Head of Sustainable B2B Opportunity and Definition at ENI S.p.A., presenting ‘Energy Transition of the Maritime Sector’ with key information about using HVO as an already available, premium alternative to fossil fuels, and Epaminondas Mastorakos, Hopkinson/ICI Professor of Applied Thermodynamics and Director, Rolls-Royce Cambridge University Technology Centre on Combustion, who presented ‘The Energy Penalty of Alternative Marine Fuels.’

Antonis Trakakis, Technical Director at RINA, said, “While we have many challenges to overcome, this is also a time of opportunity for shipping. Sustainable solutions not only need to reduce environmental impact, but they also need to be technically and financially viable and provide shipowners with options for today and tomorrow.”

For vessels near the end of life, biofuels offer a virtually ‘drop-in’ solution. Biofuels sourced from taking carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere and using renewable energy resources for processing produce net zero emissions, although there will, of course, be some emissions generated from well to tank due to processing and transportation needs. However, tests are showing that these fuels are viable, can meet regulatory emissions targets, do not damage fuel systems, and can be used without the need to reclassify vessels.

Longer term, hydrogen is widely acclaimed as being a key strategic ‘new energy’ to reduce global emissions. It offers numerous benefits as a marine fuel, including its non-toxicity, low risk of explosion, high compression ratios, high thermal efficiency, and favourable combustion characteristics. However, there are some aspects that need to be addressed including the low energy density of the fuel-air mixture, and small ignition energy which presents the risk of pre-ignition.

Although infrastructure and availability of green hydrogen require investment, there are options for shipowners to use hydrogen today by using a gas reformer to generate hydrogen onboard from LNG. LNG already offers lower emissions than HFO but, when combined with using increasing percentages of hydrogen to fuel the vessel, a dual fuel LNG/hydrogen propulsion arrangement can meet IMO CII obligations by using increasing percentages of hydrogen over time. Furthermore, carbon is captured directly from the LNG molecules, providing a straightforward carbon capture solution. So, while hydrogen is widely seen as a longer-term solution to decarbonisation, it also offers a practical solution for shipowners wanting to invest in newer vessels today.

Spyros Zolotas, Marine Senior Director South EMEA RINA commented, “For sure, the decarbonisation pathway for the maritime industry is a journey and will take time, but by taking steps today and investing in technology for the future, the industry is making significant progress. Decarbonisation is one of the core pillars within RINA, and we are working on multiple fronts to support the industry to meet its goals. Networking and information-sharing events, such as the HAC, are vital to ensuring we continue on the right path and consider all aspects of sustainability, viability, and safety for the future of shipping”.