Coastal shipping: The renewal of its fleet is an immediate challenge

The renewal of its fleet is one of the most important challenges facing Greek shipping today.

According to a survey by XRTC, 50% of the Greek coastal ships that are currently in service will be over 40 years old in 2035, while there are currently 28 shipping companies and 100 ships in Greek shipping. Their total passenger capacity is 99,759 people and 26,313 vehicles.

Given that there are currently no used ships available to meet the environmental regulations set by the EU by 2030, the only solution is to build new ships.

It should be noted that in June 2022, the Council of Ministers of Maritime Transport of the EU decided to exempt Greek shipping vessels until 31/12/2029 from the regulation on the use of renewable and low-carbon fuels in the maritime transport sector when they are launched to ports of islands with less than 200,000 inhabitants.

Speaking to the Athenian and Macedonian News Agency, the managing director of the company XRTC Business Consultants Ltd., which since 1999 has been active in Maritime Financing and in the provision of consulting services to shipping companies, Giorgos Xiradakis characterizes this particular period as an opportunity for the necessity of replacing the fleet where the Greek banks will be able to play a decisive role in the whole project.

He adds that to do this the shipping companies of the coastal shipping industry should be able to offer transparent data and strategies that fall under the new needs of the banks, such as for example clear strategic objectives, respectable balance sheets, environmental social and corporate governance.

On the other hand, he points out that the banks, after 15 years of inactivity and the insistence on not supporting Greek shipping from 2008 onwards, should for their part want to invest in the analysis of what we call shipping risk.

When this happens from the Greek banks, says Mr. Xiradakis, foreign banking institutions will follow as the negative risk factor of the Greek economy no longer exists.

He emphasizes that the financing of the shipping market should include the sectors of small and large shipyards that will be able to build ships as well as para-shipping companies.

Everyone will be asked to set up their company profile in order to be able to raise capital.

He also adds that this venture should be run by the coastguards themselves and the companies, such as the Grimaldi group which is currently building new ships of new technology and capacity, something that the late shipowner Periklis Panagopoulos had done in 1990 with superfasts, a by the people who were considered the founders of modern Greek shipping.

He emphasizes that the Greek shipping companies are the ones that should implement the business plans with specialized executives and that the banks should not be shareholders in the shipping companies themselves.

Mr. Xiradakis points out that the Greek economy and Greek society is based to a very large extent on the development of maritime transport because it provides the connection of the entire territory with the islands, ensuring the cohesion of the state while supporting two major sectors of tourism and rural development

According to XRTC, today no shipping company has plans to build ships, except for the Attica group which has completed the construction of three state-of-the-art Aero Catamaran ships, which will be launched on the lines of the Argosaronic Sea, marking the end of the era of the “flying dolphins” that For 40 years they served the islands’ transportation needs.

To date, the financing of investments for the renewal of the fleet with low and zero emission ships is planned to be done in the form of subsidies for the green part of the investment, through the NSRF and the New Development Law, while it is being considered to establish a special fund within the framework of the European System Emission Trading System, (ETS) in order to reinvest revenues from the ETS directly into the industry. The companies also hope that the multi-year public service contracts from the Ministry of Shipping can be used as a means to help bank financing in conjunction with the aforementioned financing tools.

Construction of new “Green ships” in Europe

In Europe there are many programs to build new “green” passenger-carrier ships.

According to xrtc the Italian group Grimaldi has taken delivery of the 10th of the 12 vessels ordered belonging to the Grimaldi Green 5 th Generation (GG5G), which includes the world’s largest and most environmentally friendly ro-ro units for short sea shipping .

The ship, which can carry around 500 trailers and 180 cars, is equipped with state-of-the-art, electronically controlled engines and an exhaust gas cleaning system to reduce sulfur and particulate emissions.

In addition, thanks to the adoption of numerous highly innovative technological solutions, at the same speed the ship called Eco Mediterranea consumes the same amount of fuel compared to previous generation ro-ro ships and is therefore able to halve CO2 emissions per transported unit. While at anchor, the ship achieves the goal of “Zero port emissions” and this is because the Eco Mediterranea uses electricity stored in mega lithium batteries with a total capacity of 5 MWh, which are recharged during the voyages thanks to shaft generators and 350 m2 of solar panels.

Three LNG-Electric Stena E-Flexer Ro-Pax hybrid vessels have been ordered by Stena RoRo for use by Brittany Ferries and Marine Atlantic.

The first of these ships will be the largest hybrid ship to date and will be delivered in 2024. It will be named “Saint Malo” and will transport passengers between the UK and France in the coming years.

The Swedish company Stena Line and the Port of Frederikshavn have signed an agreement to build Gothenburg-Frederikshavn the world’s first ferry line to be served by ships without fossil fuels. The route will be operated by two battery-powered Stena Elektra vessels, which will be built by 2030.

Danish company DFDS has revealed its plans to build a hydrogen fueled ship by 2025.

Shipping company Torghatten Nord will build two new hydrogen ships after a tender was awarded by the Norwegian authorities to serve a major shipping line between the cities of Bodo, Rost, Vaeroy and Moskenes, with a ship that will use 85% fuel based on in hydrogen and the remaining 15% in fuel with zero or minimal pollutants. According to the tender, Torghatten Nord will operate the link from 2025 to 2040.

The shipping company Havila Kystruten from Norway has taken delivery of the first of four LNG-battery cruise ferries it has on order. These will be used to service the line between Bergen and Kirkenes in Norway.

In Sweden, Wasaline welcomed in August 2021 the newly built Aurora Botnia which uses electricity near the ports, while as the main fuel it uses liquefied natural gas but in addition it has the possibility of using biogas in the future.

Furthermore, in Estonia the Tallink Group has under construction the MyStar which uses LNG as fuel, while in Scotland the relevant regulatory authorities are issuing tenders for the coverage of coastal shipping lines by ships that will use electricity as a propulsion force.

In Greece, the Saronic Ferries company signed in June 2022 a memorandum of understanding with the Norwegian classifier DNV for the construction of the first electrically powered passenger ferry over short distances.

The goal is that in 2026 the ship will be operational on the Argosaronic lines. The Presidential Decree that will regulate the possibilities of electrification and electric charging in Greek ports is in its final stage.

Source: AMPE