The ship.energy podcast

The First Movers series puts the spotlight on those maritime companies that have been among the first to take the plunge on decarbonisation by trialling and adopting alternative fuels or green technologies. 

This series goes beyond the initial and optimistic big announcements and headlines and asks what happens in the months and years that follow. It aims to unpick the tangible results achieved and the practical challenges faced by these decarbonisation pioneers. 

As the series develops, we will interrogate the concept of a ‘first mover advantage’. How does being a trailblazer deliver in terms of achieving commercial success, developing cutting edge technology, and driving the energy transition forwards? With the benefit of hindsight, would these companies take the same decisions again or would their strategies be very different?

In this first episode of First Movers, Ariane Morrissey is joined by Rasmus Nielsen, Naval Architect and Officer at Scandlines, a ferry company that operates routes between Denmark and Germany. Rasmus was involved throughout the preparation, installation, and performance evaluation of rotor sails on M/V Copenhagen in 2020, and on M/V Berlin two years later. 

In this interview, he reveals how the company started small to test the technology, document performance and solve any teething issues – and how being a first mover paid off, with the wind propulsion system genuinely delivering the 4-5% average emissions reductions that were promised in the project. 

Rasmus also reflects on the challenges faced by first movers who pioneer technologies before regulation and rules are fully ready, and how Scandlines successfully jumped through those administrative hoops to install battery systems on board back in 2013. 

He believes that new regulation including EU ETS and FuelEU Maritime will make it inevitable for other companies to follow the path paved by first movers, arguing that doing nothing will also have a cost. 

As Ardmore marks 10 years without a lost-time injury (LTI) on its tanker Ardmore Endeavour, the company’s Fleet Management Director Gerry Docherty reflects on the importance of listening to seafarers to build a robust safety culture on board, and how that can be done in practice. 

In this interview, Gerry argues that maintaining an open dialogue with seafarers will be essential throughout the energy transition. He also expands on the role that digital technology will play in upskilling crews as new fuels and technologies are introduced on board – and how Ardmore is already using virtual reality as part of its training regime. 

Himself a seagoing marine engineer with BP Shipping in the 1990s, Gerry then served as a Project Manager and Senior Surveyor with Lloyd’s Register before joining Ardmore in 2011.

The first guest on the ship.energy podcast in October is Rob Mortimer, Founder and CEO of Dubai-based Fuelre4m. Rob has taken on the challenge of transforming how industries think about fossil fuels, with a focus on modernising outdated practices through innovation, digitalisation, and cutting-edge technology. 

At Fuelre4m, Rob spearheaded the development of Re4mx, a fuel optimisation technology that improves fuel efficiency by up to 20% while reducing emissions by as much as 80%. He also led the development of Styrex, a world-first innovation that recycles polystyrene waste into sustainable fuel, helping industries transition to circular economy models. 

Before launching Fuelre4m, Rob honed his leadership skills across various sectors. His role as Managing Director at Valley Utilities Ltd demonstrated his ability to drive business growth while focusing on the sustainability of energy resources. Additionally, his time as Managing Director at Catomance Ltd provided him with extensive experience in technical and regulatory leadership within the fuel and energy industries.

In conversation with ship.energy’s Lesley Bankes-Hughes, Rob explains how Re4mx technology can move the dial on conventional marine fuel in terms of energy content, combustion and emissions reduction. He also sets out his concerns over the accuracy of current data on fuel consumption and how that data is being collected and interpreted, and he gives his perspectives on how digitalisation can optimise the accretion and value of data. 

This week’s podcast guest is Ahila Karan who is the Senior Lead on Green Initiatives at the Lloyd’s Register (LR) Maritime Decarbonisation Hub. In this role she led the launch of The Silk Alliance Green Corridor Cluster to catalyse the bunkering of alternative fuels in Singapore, as well as the Maritime Fuel Supply Dialogues, a regional initiative facilitating public/private dialogues across the energy and transport sectors to accelerate hydrogen-based fuel supply development across Asia Pacific and Africa. 

Ahila has more than 7 years’ experience covering global energy markets, with a particular focus on transportation fuels and the cleaner fuels transition. 

She holds a Master of Science degree in Economics from University College London and previously worked at oil trading company Trafigura as the Global Distillates Analyst where she was also involved in producing analysis on shipping industry trends and fleet analysis. Prior to this, Ahila worked at S&P Global, reporting on major energy news and the latest environmental policy changes affecting the shipping and road fuels industries. 

The Lloyd’s Register Maritime Decarbonisation Hub is an independent, not-for-profit social purpose organisation, working towards a safe, sustainable, and human-centric decarbonised shipping industry for the benefit of society.  It was formed in 2020 with a grant from Lloyd’s Register Foundation.

ship.energy marks a new month with a new podcast, featuring Alexandre Tocatlian, Head of Business Development at Gaztransport & Technigaz (GTT) Commercial Division.

Taking a deep dive into all things LNG, Alexandre will discuss GTT’s work on LNG containment systems, explain the characteristics of bio and synthetic LNG, and consider how LNG can maintain its reputation as a low-emission fuel on a well-to-wake basis.

Alexandre Tocatlian graduated in 2011 from the Ecole Centrale de Lyon, with a specialiaation in Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College London. 

He joined GTT in January 2014 as a Technical Project Manager on LNGCs and FSRUs projects. In September 2016, he moved to the LNG Fuel Division, as a Product Line Manager for the passenger ship market. From July 2019 he managed the Product Lines team, delivering solutions for all types of LNG-fuelled ships and LNG bunker vessels. 

Since July 2021, Alexandre has been heading the Business Development team covering all GTT products and services for Europe, Russia, Middle East, Africa and India.

In this week’s podcast, we discuss the issues surrounding the commercial viability of nuclear-powered ships and how they could change the shipping industry. 

In conversation with Mark Williams, Chirayu Batra, an independent expert on advanced reactors and small modular reactors, addresses technical questions on nuclear reactors. They are joined by Amelia Hipwell, Decarbonisation Innovation Manager at Lloyd’s Register Maritime Decarbonisation Hub, who offers her perspectives on the business case for nuclear-powered shipping as well as the challenges, including overcoming public perceptions about the use of the technology. 

Amelia is the Decarbonisation Innovation Manager of the Lloyd’s Register Maritime Decarbonisation Hub (LR MDH). She manages the Hub’s proprietary Zero Carbon Fuel Monitor website which provides an insights-based assessment of the readiness of zero carbon fuels for maritime applications and industry-wide comparisons of alternative solutions across the entire fuel supply chain. 

Amelia joined Lloyd’s Register in 2016, after graduating with a Master of Engineering (Mechanical, Design and Operations) degree from the University of Durham. She joined LR on the graduate scheme before moving into the role of an Additive Manufacturing Inspection Surveyor, developing LR's additive manufacturing expertise and value propositions, and then as a Business Model Innovation Architect. 

At the LR MDH, Amelia has grown and evolved the Zero Carbon Fuel Monitor, which assesses the readiness levels of shipping’s most promising zero-carbon fuels and energy sources in three main areas: technology, investment, and community. She has authored two published update reports for the Monitor – the Zero Carbon Fuel Monitor October 2023 update and How close is the shipping industry to adopting nuclear for propulsion? She has also worked with the Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI) on the report, Green Steel and Shipping.

Chirayu Batra has over a decade of experience in advanced nuclear technology. Currently, he is channelling his expertise into a new stealth-mode venture, focused on advancing nuclear technology. 

Previously, as Chief Technology Officer at TerraPraxis and LucidCatalyst, Chirayu worked on large-scale deployment strategies for nuclear energy. Prior to this, he served as a Project Officer for advanced reactor technologies at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). 

As a subject matter expert, Chirayu has in-depth knowledge of nuclear reactor design, safety, and technology development. His advanced degrees in Nuclear Engineering and Nuclear Reactor Physics, complemented by research experience in neutronics and thermal hydraulics, underpin his technical and project management proficiency. 

At the IAEA, Chirayu was the first scientific secretary for the agency’s platform on Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), coordinating the development of the IAEA’s medium-term strategy for near-term deployment of SMRs. He also led the creation of the international SMR Coordination and Resource Portal for Information Exchange, Outreach, and Networking, which is currently the primary source of information for all relevant activities on SMRs at the IAEA. 

Additionally, Chirayu spearheaded the IAEA’s activities on codes and standards, design engineering, and manufacturing of SMR components. His contributions extended to several international scientific committees, where he regularly provided technical insights. 

Chirayu holds a double master's degree in Nuclear Engineering and Nuclear Reactor Physics, along with an undergraduate degree in Material Science. 

ship.energy celebrates its 100th podcast this week with a great conversation between contributing editor Mark Williams and Allyson Browne, co-founder of High Ambition Climate Collective and a driving force for change in climate and energy policy.

With more than 10 years of experience across the public, private and nonprofit sectors, Allyson has also served as Pacific Environment’s Climate Campaign Director, leading their Ports for People campaigns to end port and ship pollution in partnership with frontline community-based organisations.

Shore power is a key strand in this discussion, and Allyson looks at developments in this technology at US ports and considers the challenges surrounding the supply of electricity from renewable sources in order to be truly net zero.

She also explains how ports’ decarbonisation efforts, including electrification and shore power, can support climate adaptation and resilience goals.

In other roles, Allyson has previously served as the Director of Regulatory Affairs for SRECTrade, where she collaborated with industry and grassroots organisations on renewable energy policies. She was Chief of Staff to Jared Blumenfeld for California Governor Newsom’s 2018 gubernatorial campaign and on the Energy & Environment team, and she has also worked as a consultant on energy in cities, cannabis, and cryptocurrency.

Allyson holds a Juris Doctor, Environmental Law from Golden Gate University School of Law and a B.S., Business Administration from University of Southern California Marshall School of Business.

On this week’s ship.energy podcast, Paul Stuart Smith, Managing Partner, JS Global Advisory, and Mark Williams discuss whether, in the light of recent announcements from energy companies and recent election results, decarbonisation is going backwards.

They consider the progress and challenges of decarbonisation and the broader ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) framework. 

Paul emphasises the need for increased investment in renewable energy and alternative fuels, as well as stronger government support and regulatory clarity. 

He also highlights the importance of ESG reporting and the pushback it has faced, but notes that companies are increasingly focusing on ESG issues and adopting reporting frameworks like TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures) and TNFD (Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures).

Paul is a former Executive Director at the Baltic Exchange where he led its regulated subsidiary from 2009-17. He previously held high-profile roles in Capital Markets at Morgan Stanley and Chemical Bank in London and New York. His experience includes managing Morgan Stanley’s financing and borrowing activity in Europe, as well as managing significant risk positions for both firms in bond, currency and derivatives markets.

As a consultant he has advised the Climate Bonds Initiative on its Shipping Criteria and a UK bank on the structuring and roll out of a ground-breaking green finance product based on Green Bond & Green Loan Principles and the EU Taxonomy.

He works with listed companies across sectors and geographies with a particular focus on decarbonisation, the energy transition, and corporate reporting of climate-related risk in line with the TCFD recommendations, including scenario analysis and selection and reporting of KPIs. Other current projects include advising on the development of the business model for a new Global Biodiversity Standard which aims to provide much needed assurance to carbon sequestration projects and carbon credit markets world-wide.

In 2023 he contributed to a report from the UNDP which calls on regulators and policymakers to integrate social inequality-related risk fully into financial stability and disclosure frameworks. 

He is an Oxford-educated mathematician and trained as a barrister

On this week’s ship.energy podcast, Mark Williams talks to Giampiero Soncini, Managing Director of the digitalisation and decarbonisation company, Oceanly.

In the course of his career, Giampiero spent 20 years at SpecTec - the company behind the AMOS software - including 11 years as its CEO. During this time, he played a significant role in establishing the company as a major player in IT for the shipping industry. 

Giampiero believes that the future of digitalisation in shipping lies in achieving complete control over all aspects of navigation planning, fuel consumption, and emissions. As a result, he is convinced that Oceanly Performance will become a crucial element of fleet management. For this reason, he decided to join the company as CEO. 

In this podcast, Mark and Giampiero discuss trends in onboard data collection, analysis and reporting, automation, decision support and autonomy, and the benefits and limits of voyage optimisation. 

Giampiero served as an officer in the Italian Navy for 14 years, and for 13 years was the Technical Manager for NATO Research Vessel Alliance, the world's first ship to be equipped with both GPS and Inertial Navigation System technology. During this time, he became passionate about integrating technology into ships.

In this week’s ship.energy podcast, the spotlight is on the Maritime Fuel Supply Dialogues, an initiative from Lloyd’s Register’s Decarbonisation Hub. The Dialogues were launched at a first roundtable discussion on 16 April during Singapore Maritime Week which was hosted by the Ocean Stewardship Coalition of the United Nations Global Compact in partnership with the LR Maritime Decarbonisation Hub.

The initiative is a dialogue series focused on scaling fuel supply development across Asia Pacific and Africa to support regional maritime decarbonisation, that brings together stakeholders across energy and transport sectors. The series aims to unlock the potential for clean and sustainable fuels, especially hydrogen-based fuels, and to foster a thriving blue economy.

In this ship.energy discussion, contributing editor Mark Williams finds out more about the focus and aims of the Dialogues in conversation with Karan Sawhney, Senior Project Manager, Ocean Stewardship Coalition, United Nations Global Compact and Carlo Raucci, Director of Sustainable Fuels and Strategy, Lloyd’s Register Maritime Decarbonisation Hub.

Karan Sawhney is a Senior Project Manager at the Ocean Stewardship Coalition of the UN Global Compact with a background in the maritime and energy sectors.

Karan began his professional journey in the shipping industry in Singapore. He then ventured into entrepreneurship by founding his own company in the offshore oil and gas sector. 

Seeking to deepen his understanding of energy and environmental issues and pursue his passion for sustainability Karan left the industry to pursue a Master's degree in Energy, Natural Resources, and the Environment at the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH), complementing his Bachelor's degree from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University Bloomington.

Karan then joined the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) as a Program Advisor, where he played a crucial role in international conservation projects. His work in project management and sustainability led him to his current role at the UN Global Compact, where he is responsible for developing and managing sustainability linked initiatives within the maritime sector. Karan is currently leading the establishment of Ocean Stewardship Centers in the global south, as well as  spearheading an international ports working group, focusing on high-level policy recommendations to be presented during the UN General Assembly Week.

Dr Carlo Raucci is a highly regarded expert in maritime decarbonisation, with over 15 years of experience driving change in the industry. As Director, Sustainable Fuels and Strategy at the Lloyd's Register Maritime Decarbonisation Hub, he spearheads efforts to accelerate the adoption of sustainable fuels for shipping.

Dr Raucci’s study "A framework for first movers in shipping's decarbonisation (2021)" played a pivotal role in establishing the Silk Alliance, a green corridor cluster in Singapore, which is currently managed by his team. He is accountable for the First Mover Program of the Hub, where he supervises a team and supports stakeholders across the maritime industry to embrace sustainable fuels and expedite the transition to a clean future.

His expertise extends beyond hydrogen, encompassing fuel mix projections, production cost models, and decarbonisation strategy development. 

Dr Raucci has authored numerous publications, including: “The scale of investment needed to decarbonise international shipping”, “The Potential of Zero-Carbon Bunker Fuels in Developing Countries”, and The Future of Maritime Fuels. 

Dr Raucci's research from his PhD at University College London (2016) was the first to propose hydrogen and hydrogen-based fuels as a viable option for decarbonising shipping.