Aronnax

The World Maritime Technology Conference took place in Copenhagen from April 26th to April 28th 2022 (It should have taken place last year but the pandemic put things on hold).

During the event five members of WISTA (Women's International Shipping and Trading Association) Technology and Futures Committee were in the audience and taking part in sessions. I cornered them for 20 minutes to talk about where WISTA stands today and the difference it is, and can make.

Around the table are:

Federica Maiorano (WISTA Monaco) SpotShip

Sofia Fürstenberg Stott (WISTA Sweden) Fürstenberg Maritime Advisory

Beverley Mackenzie (WISTA UK) BIMCO

Jocelyn Hansen (WISTA Denmark) Searoutes

Katia Corfini (WISTA Italy) Goversilia

A full transcript of the show can be found on

https://fathom.world/aronnax-podcast-technology-and-the-future-of-shipping-with-wista/

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In this episode of the Aronnax Podcast we catch up with Alex Caizergues from Marseille, a kiteboarder who became the fastest man on water powered by the wind, lost his title and now wants to win it back, and in doing so has invented a decision making (digital twin) tool that shipping can use to make itself more efficient.

Full transcript on Fathom.World

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Lloyd's Register, Heidelberg Cement, Fellekjøpet, Egil Ulvan Rederi and Norwegian Ship Design join Fathom World's Craig Eason to discuss how cargo owners can have a big say in how shipping gets to decarbonise.

WITH ORCA is a ship design set to show that while the clean fuels may be expensive, industry can use technology and ingenuity so a ship does not have to be used all the time the ship is at sea.

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Seven teams of maritime and logistics students took part in the latest Intelligence Hunt competition where they were given challenges by companies with real issues they want to have solutions to. The winners of the latest challenge designed a clean fuelled passenger and cargo vessel that could work in the unique waters of Finland. This episode sees Craig Eason talk to the student talent team called Rauma Decarbonisers, along with with the company that set their challenge, Rauma Marine Construction and the team's industry mentor, Poul Woodall, formerly DFDS in Denmark.

Guests on the podcast are:

MIka Laurilehto, Rauma Marine Construction, Finland

Ahmed Hassan, Egypt (studying at Aalto University)

Xiaohan Gu, China (studying at Chalmers University of Technology)

Ankita Nayak, India (studying at Aalto University)

Nsebong Umoh, Nigeria (studying at Chalmers University of Technology)

Poul Woodall, Denmark, team mentor

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Rolf Sandvik is ready to sign contracts and build the first of what he hopes wil be a fleet of hydrogen and battery powered luxury cruise ships. He proved his capabilities with Vision of the Fjords but this is going much further in size and ambition. He talks with Craig Eason about the plans and why he thinks it will work.

A full transcript can be found on the Aronnax podcast page on the fathom.world website

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Hello again and welcome to another episode of the Aronnax podcast. I am Craig Eason, from Fathom World and podcast host.

In this episode we go to Spain, to Barcelona. Because it is here that a relatively young company has begun to make waves having now installed a wind assist technology on a second vessel as it pushes ahead with its plans to join the growing market for fossil fuel free power solutions. The company is called Bound4Blue, founded in 2006 not by nautical engineers, but aeronautical engineers who had an original dream of using wind power in vessels to create electricity that could generate renewable fuels. Over the last fifteen years the company not only adapted its plans, focusing on the energy potential of a rigid wingsail solution, and how it can be a solution into the maritime market, but managaed to go from strength to strength.

Entrepreneurs and those with novel ideas will know all to well how hard it is to get traction in a new market. There is the overwhelming and continual need to raise financial support, to be able to focus on a challenge while also looking at winning grants, or investment from angel investors or venture capitalists…or as so many will now, from families friends and fools as many say. But even with initial financial support the challenges never go away, startup financing inevitably is for research and development, for specific projects, not for commercialisation. At some point any company with a product to sell has to take an idea on paper, or a software design programme, and move from scale models to demonstration projects, to then sourcing and contracting materials, suppliers and construction assuming that orders will come. Its called the ”Valley of Death”, and where an entrepreneur start-up with a fantastic product could easily become stuck and fold. The product is tested, the product is ready, and all that is needed is the market to buy it…. And if the product is an extremely visible one, and the market is traditionally very conservative, the challenge is all the greater.

This is where Bound4Blue is now, it has a second system installed of one of its two propulsion solutions and is now investing in ramping up. It has been successful in raising money, but knows it needs more.

I spoke to two of the co-founders about the journey so far, and how they are ramping up, particularly how they look for suppliers to make the systems, and ensure they have the funding to move forward and expand.

Cristina Aleixendri is COO, chief Operating Officer, and David Ferrer is chief technology officer. My first question to Cristina was how they got their first moonshot idea to look at clean energy production and then were able to adapt it to providing clean power solutions, and still keep their initial investors enthusiastic.

More details and images in Fathom.world of course!

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Large ships working on the deep seas need new fuels. The bunker fuels they use today - what are residual fuels and refined fuels - are all hydrocarbons which the industry needs to be weaned off as they emit greenhouse gases which while being just over 2% of the global amount of man-made GHGs is likely to be much bigger a percentage as other industries and society reduce their emissions and ship numbers grow as global trade and equity increase.

The politics of decarbonisation are of course difficult to move around (lobby groups tend to have loud voices) but one point that everyone agrees on is there's no time to wait.

This podcast is fuel and technology agnostics, I just enjoy finding out how the ocean industries are set to sustainably evolve. The decarbonisation (or carbon emission intensity - even the phrases are not agreed on) of deep sea international shipping seems to be be working towards to LNG and then to ammonia and methanol, both capable of being produced by hydrocarbons, both being able to be produced by more renewable means. One company aiming to do that is Liquid Wind in Sweden. The company is set to start building build its first production facility to make e-methanol this year.

So Craig Eason caught up with Claes Fredriksson, Liquid Wind's founder and CEO to get his story and where he thinks Liquid Wind will fit into the mix.

Transcript at the following link

https://fathom.world/aronnax-emethanol-for-shipping-the-story-of-liquid-wind/

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In this episode of the Aronnax Podcast Craig Eason caught up with Diane Gilpin one of shipping's greatest champions for a resurgence of wind-powered solutions as the industry seeks energy efficiencies and decarbonisation.

In a wide ranging discussion Craig and Diane talked about her career, and what she has learned about innovation and how hard it is to seek financing (an issue for any sustainability focused green technology being pioneered by a startup or SME).

Craig gets her thoughts on COP 26 in Glasgow where shipping folk turned up in greater numbers than they have ever done at any previous UNFCCC meeting and what she thinks needs to happen in the future.

Full transcript at

https://fathom.world/aronnax-with-diane-gilpin-on-wind-life-and-financing

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UCL (with its consultancy arm UMAS) has issued a 122 page report outlining the paths shipowners can choose as they decarbonise the industry.

Craig Eason speaks to two of the authors, Dr Alison Shaw and Dr Domagoj Baresic abou the content to find out how it could make a difference. He also asks about the role of both international and national/regional regulations and whether having both develop simultaneously is a hindrance or a help.

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Hello and welcome to a new episode of the Aronnax podcast the show that focuses on the transformation of the maritime and ocean space.

I’m Craig Eason, editorial director at Fathom.World where the stories we cover on the podcast will be found with additional detail.

So, a quick plug, visit the fathom. World website and subscribe to the newsletter if you have not already done so, and also look on your chosen podcast app and follow, like and subscribe to this podcast, let me know what you think.

Now everyone around the world, whether involved in a maritime or ocean industry or not, will know that COP 26, the 26th meeting of the conference of parties to the UN framework Convention on Climate change will meet in Glasgow, and the expectations are high for nations to up their game and show more commitment to meet the temperature targets of the Paris Agreement.

This commitment will be in the form of nationally determined contributions. Shipping, so far at least, does not factor in them. The goal of decarbonising international shipping is still being left to the representatives of the member states who attend the International maritime organisations environmental meetings, the iMO of course being another UN agency like the UNFCCC

However, that does not mean there will be no place for shipping at COP 26. In fact shopping has been represented either by the IMO or industry players at earlier COP meetings and Glasgow is no different.

So now let me introduce my guest for this episode. Katharine Palmer. Katharine is our industry’s official climate champion. Her full time role is actually at the UK based classification society Lloyd’s Register, but they, or rather the Lloyd’s Register Foundation has lent her out on secondment to the UN high-level champions team to be their shipping lead.

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