Sustainable shipping, a European view

03/10/22 • 28 min

Hoisting the sail, a supply chain podcast

This week we welcome Dr Harilaos Psaraftis, a professor at the Technical University of Denmark.
He completed his undergraduate studies in Greece and received a diploma from the National Technical University of Athens. He later received two M.Sc. degrees from MIT, the first in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering and the second in Shipping and Shipbuilding Management. Shortly after, he acquired his Ph.D. in Ocean Systems Operations Research from MIT and went on to work as an Associate Professor at the institution for a decade.

Psaraftis also served as CEO of the Piraeus Port Authority in the late ’90s to early 2000s. During this period, ports faced new challenges as international regulations for shipping were shifting. Psaraftis shares his experiences with us and provides commentary on changes he thinks we can expect to see in the way ports operate in the future.

His latest European Union project is AEGIS, which stands for Advanced, Efficient, and Green Intermodal Systems. It is a three-year project, and its objective is to design autonomous ships that will aid mainly intra-European maritime transport and short sea shipping. It will also design Europe's new sustainable and highly competitive waterborne logistics system. Not only does this initiative help Europe to move shipping from the roads to freight but it also serves as a model for other countries to follow suit and mobilize towards clean shipping.

In this episode, we discuss a variety of topics ranging from climate change to the role carbon taxes have in internalizing environmental externalities. Join us and get an insider on what a maritime shipping expert believes it will take to achieve a zero-carbon fueled shipping industry.

Previous Episode

Blue Observer

On today’s episode we welcome Amadeus Beaujolin, director of development for Blue Observer.

This low-carbon, maritime science research organization was created in Brest, France in 2021 and aims to better understand and preserve the ocean by collecting data on marine resources and collect specimens for microbiology.

Iris, the boat used by Blue Observer relies on sail propulsion so their research expeditions are 100% emission-free.

Blue Observer is also on a mission for an international program called Argo where they sail to collect data on the temperature and salinity in the ocean.

Before the Argo program was started in 2000 then deployed at a global scale, scientists had only tracked oceanic changes along main maritime roads, which Beaujolin estimates to be only 1% of our oceans.

Partnering with Woods Hole Institution and Ifremer, Blue Observer’s recent mission on the Atlantic has deployed 97 Argo floats. Argo collects now data on more than 50% of our oceans, a massive step for bettering our understanding of the relationship between oceans and climate change.

In addition, there is a sustainable message behind their work: using a sailboat, which is clean and silent, is the most appropriate and ideal tool for studying our oceans and climate change.

Blue Observer is also participating in the One Ocean Summit. For a brief moment, Brest, France will be the center of the oceanographic world, where experts will gather at the summit to attempt to heighten global ambitions on solving maritime issues and come up with plans for efficient ocean governance.

Next Episode

Cargo Owners make the first move

Our guest this week, Geraud Pellat de Villedon, Head of CSR for the supply chain at Michelin, joins us to bring a new perspective on the shipping industry. Michelin, the French tire manufacturer, is one of the largest shippers worldwide, transporting 240,000 TEUs per year. This company has been a leader in innovating ways to be greener since they introduced their green tire technology in the early 90s. Now, they are delving even deeper and making their supply chain environmentally friendly as well.

Michelin is part of Cargo Owners for Zero Emission Vessels (coZEV), which is a coalition of companies that seeks to accelerate maritime shipping decarbonization. However, unlike other companies within the coalition, Michelin refuses to wait for shipping companies to propose a solution and has instead sought out low carbon transportation for their cargo.

Michelin, among a group of 12 European cargo owners, has made a call to bid for a tender to move 1,000 TEUs weekly from Europe to the US on wind-powered vessels that reduce CO2 emissions by 50%. The selected shipping company would fulfill these requirements under the most optimal combination of lead times, carbon dioxide emissions reductions, and cost. Yet a key question remains: why have they chosen to harness the wind instead of opting for low carbon fuels?

Tune in for this episode as we discuss Michelin’s motive for taking such an initiative and how corporate social responsibility fits into the supply chain.