Cypriot ship supply broker GP General Procurement Company (GenPro) is working on helping its supplier and shipowner clients pick low-carbon fuels in the near future.
Managing director Maria Theodosiou told TradeWinds: “We are in discussions with a fuel provider to be able to offer alternative fuels as an option.
“We don’t have an agreement in place at the moment, but the intention is to spread awareness and educate our clients.”
Clients have been asking for guidance and whether GenPro can offer something.
GenPro will not be selling fuel itself any time soon, but she hopes owners will choose to use alternative sources of propulsion for their own shipping operations, not just in the delivery supply chain.
The company has published what may be the first sustainability report in the ship supply sector as part of its eco-drive.
Part of the report is a climate change socio-economic risk analysis, which looks at what geopolitical threats there are to its business model in the future.
“Many companies chose not to engage because it is so extensive,” Theodosiou said.
The assessment can be time-consuming and requires resources, she explained. It is a complex exercise that, in the absence of regulatory pressure, can fall lower on companies’ priority lists.
The analysis looks at factors beyond GenPro’s control.
“In recent years, we’ve seen what’s happened with Covid and the war in Ukraine, and we anticipate more of this [change] in our lifetime,” Theodosiou said.
She gave the example of the migration of populations, which will affect seafarers and production lines. Then there is the availability of natural resources.
“We need to be ahead and consider these changes.”
The research found that most of GenPro’s suppliers are not in high-risk areas.
The company was established by Columbia Shipmanagement and Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement in Cyprus and Singapore in 2017.
During 2022, GenPro had agreements in place with more than 270 suppliers in the maritime industry.
