Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping has welcomed two new partners in its drive to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions from maritime transport.
Backed by the AP Moller Foundation, the not-for-profit research and development centre is aiming to decarbonise shipping by working with companies in different sectors.
This approach has won endorsement from nearly 10 major shipping and energy players, with France's Total and Swedish engineering firm Alfa Laval being the latest additions to its advisory board.
On Thursday, Total said it would aim to provide strategic and technical guidance to the centre through secondment of experts and knowledge sharing.
Reaffirming support
“As a broad energy company, we are actively working on improving the environmental footprint of our customers in the maritime industry and today we reaffirm our support to this key sector,” said Luc Gillet, senior vice president of the French major’s shipping and trading arm.
Beside developing green fuels for transport use, Total has two LNG-fuelled VLCCs and four aframaxes on long-term charters.
“The center will pave the way towards a greener shipping for the benefit of the whole industry as well as for our own chartering activities,” Gillet said.
Total’s announcement came after Swedish engineering group Alfa Laval said it plans to carry out some joint activities with the centre to develop low and zero carbon technologies in its test facilities.
“We need a common view of the road map for the shipping industry, and we will bring our individual expertise to the table to drive and accelerate the development,” Alfa Laval’s marine head Sameer Kalra said in late January.
The company is already working with the centre and some other partners to develop solid oxide fuel cell technology (SOFC), aiming to generate electricity for vessel operations from ammonia, hydrogen or bio-methane.
The SOFCMaritime project is funded by a grant from the Danish Energy Agency.
“Decarbonising shipping requires a system change. This can only be achieved through comprehensive collaboration across maritime and energy sectors,” the centre’s chief executive Bo Cerup-Simonsen said.
The centre’s partners include ABS, Cargill, MAN Energy Solutions, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, NYK Line, Siemens Energy and AP Moller-Maersk.
Several well-known Danish shipping figures, including former J Lauritzen chief executive Mads Peter Zacho, have joined its management team since its foundation in Copenhagen last June.
