Greenport Newsletter

Dear GREENPORT Community,

Welcome to the GREENPORT Alliances 2nd newsletter! This quarter, we are excited to share numerous updates and news about the progress of our project.

PERCEPTIONS OF BOTH INDUSTRY AND ACADEMIA –
A QUANTITATIVE STUDY

One of the first deliverables of the Greenport Alliance project is a needs gap analysis. To this end, the consortium embarked on asking both the industry and academia what their perceptions are of crew behaviour for energy efficiency. Quantitative methods were used to collect the views of these stakeholders. Three different surveys were designed, tested and consequently administered. The European Tugowners Association (ETA) and the European Maritime Pilots Association (EMPA), collected the views of the port services sector on the degree of awareness regarding the sustainability of their activities, the initiatives their industries undertake to reduce their carbon footprint and their views on the suitability of training as a means to improve the sustainability of the port services sector.

The research results show that there is a general awareness in both the port towage and the pilotage industry concerning the efforts to go greener. However, this is not always translated into more sustainable daily practices and behaviours. The industry´s respondents generally believe that developing new courses and training can positively impact efforts to reduce the carbon footprint of port services activities. Nevertheless, this widespread support was qualified by some participants who highlighted safety standards as the most important factor in the industry, which should not be sacrificed for the sake of emissions reduction or sustainability. In fact, the surveys demonstrate that many port services companies have been implementing different measures to reduce their emissions without affecting the safety of their activities.

The academic Greenport Alliance consortium partners were responsible for collecting academia’s views on the adoption of sustainability principles in maritime education. The results demonstrate a consensus on the added value academia could have in addressing sustainability challenges in port services. Still, in spite of this, the majority of the survey´s participants expressed limited participation in training or workshops on this matter, which could suggest a lack of these in academia. This explains the mixed results regarding the respondents´ confidence in explaining these subjects. Even if the majority of participants in the survey believe their curriculum effectively covers current maritime sustainability challenges, there is still room for improvement in this aspect.

Furthermore, the respondents view positively behavioural change as a tool to improve the sustainability of port services and are generally keen to introduce these methods in their courses. Nonetheless, many identified challenges when motivating learners to adopt behavioural changes, mainly the general resistance to change, a lack of expertise, resources and materials on behavioural change and a lack of awareness among educators and students.

THE TUGOWNERS MEMBERS OF ETA DISCUSS REPORTING OF EMISSIONS

The European Tugowners Association (ETA) celebrated its 61st Annual General Meeting in Helsingor, Denmark. As tradition requires, this event includes a conference on a topical issue and networking events.

This year’s conference focused on the impact of the maritime sector’s inclusion in the European Emissions Trading System (ETS) and the Monitoring Reporting and Verification (MRV) regulation. The speakers representing ports, the Danish and Italian shipowners associations, a smart shipping company and a certification firm debated the negative externalities of ETS affecting the ports’ competitiveness and causing tax evasion and carbon leakage. Speakers discussed the most suitable measures to address the industry´s emissions, among them the acquisition of greener skills and behavioural change in the sector and concurred on the potential positive impacts of an initiative like Greenport Alliance.

Furthermore, in the statutory meetings, the members were updated on the progress of the Greenport Alliance and had the opportunity to discuss the ongoing work of this project.

GLOBAL MARITIME CONGRESS (GMC’24)

The Global Maritime Congress (GMC’24) was organised for the fifth time in partnership with Istanbul Technical University Faculty of Maritime, UCTEA The Chamber of Marine Engineers, Batumi State Maritime Academy, Constanta Maritime University, and Strathclyde University, and was held at İTÜ Tuzla Campus, İstanbul, from May 20-21, 2024.

This year’s main theme of the international congress was “FUTURE of SHIPPING”. In addition, scientific research on subjects such as technological approaches in maritime, energy efficiency, human factor, innovative design and inventions, cybersecurity at sea, new marine fuels and efficiency, shipbuilding, logistics and maritime trade and law, port operations, and digital approaches in maritime transportation management were also presented.

Tutku Eker İșcioğlu from Piri Reis University had the chance to present Greenport Alliances during the event.

SEMINAR ON PILOTAGE SERVICES

Captain Muhammer Arslanturk, Chair of the Turkish Pilots Association, delivered a seminar on the crucial role of pilotage services in the maritime industry at Piri Reis University. The Turkish Pilots Association is a member of EMPA.

Prior to his presentation, GREENPORT Alliances was introduced, highlighting its importance in the port services sector.

ELECTRIC FOILING BOAT

Concluding this edition is an article written by Patrick Galvin from EMPA, regarding his experience exploring a revolutionary development in marine technology: the electric-powered foiling Pilot Boat by Artemis Technologies. Read the advancement in technology through the eyes of a maritime professional below:

“As a seasoned mariner since 1993, I was initially sceptical about the concept of an electric-powered foiling Pilot Boat. However, my curiosity grew, leading me to explore Artemis Technologies and eventually witness a demonstration of their all-electric foiling workboat in Cork Harbour.”

Read the full article on our website here: https://greenportalliance.eu/electric-foiling-pilot-boat/