The Sustainable Shipping Initiative was pleased to sponsor the International Wind Ship Association Wind Innovation Awards presented at the SMM conference in Hamburg on 8th September 2016.
The Technology User Award recognises companies that are championing the use of wind propulsion on their vessels, through testing, prototype operation and commercial use. Four very different contenders were nominated.
- Enercon for their E-ship 1,
- Bore Shipping for their use of Norsepower Rotors,
- Solar Sailor for the Rigid Opening Sail, and
- Fair Transport, with the Traditional Sail Cargo.
Each of these organizations is to be commended for the work they are doing and the commitment demonstrated by their willingness to try out new and innovative solutions however based upon a public vote Germany’s wind power specialists Enercon were the winners and it was a great pleasure for Mr Ian Petty, General Manager of the Sustainable Shipping Initiative, to be present and to deliver the award certificate, and a fine bottle of Fair Trade Rum, in person to Dr Andreas Schmidt of Enercon.
It is through collaborative projects like these, and those being undertaken by the many energetic and enthusiastic members of the IWSA, that the development of new technology can be tested, funded and ultimately shown to work. Proving the viability of a new technology is a crucial step in overcoming market reluctance. Industry wide partnerships and coalitions, like the SSI, are taking practical steps to tackle some of the sector’s greatest opportunities and challenge and more effective problem solving happens when resources in talent, experience, finance and infrastructure are combined.
SSI’s own members have also been active in the search for technologies to harness the wind as part of an overall solution to the critical challenge faced by the shipping industry to reduce carbon emissions. With the IMO’s third GHG study predicting that CO2 emissions could increase by as much as 250% by 2050 it is unthinkable and totally unacceptable for shipping not to take responsibility for reducing its output and in so doing contribute to the global CO2 reduction targets outlined in COP21 at the UNFCCC conference in December last year.
About the Sustainable Shipping Initiative
The Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI) is an independent charity, comprised of ambitious leaders spanning the whole shipping value chain from charterers and ship owners, to ship yards, class societies and technology companies.
The SSI’s objective is to make sustainability mainstream; working with its members and other shipping stakeholders to create a more environmentally responsible, socially conscious, safer, accountable, and more economically profitable industry. One that is truly sustainable by 2040, as outlined in its Vision.
The SSI was founded by global sustainability non-profit organisation Forum for the Future in conjunction with WWF, the global conservation NGO and a number of leading shipping industry companies. Forum for the Future and WWF remain as SSI NGO members.