Greenship 2024: Accelerating Maritime Decarbonization
Maritime innovation only gets 4.5% of overall cleantech private investment. There are plenty of technologies available, especially in CleanAI, alternative fuels, and electrification but without deep collaboration and internal champions, we won’t get there soon enough.
That was my message for Pacific Coast’s maritime corporate leaders gathered at Vancouver Maritime Center for Climate – VMCC’s 3rd edition of Greenship Conference 2024, a maritime decarbonization event in Vancouver. Throughout the day, it became clear that the transition was well under way and that collaboration wasn’t taken lightly in the region. Champions were indeed taking the lead, and they were committed to adopting new technologies that will, hopefully, allow the next generation to regain access to pristine ocean ecosystems.
Ports Uniting for Climate
The Northwest Seaport Alliance is a marine cargo operating partnership of the Port of Seattle and Port of Tacoma. Together with their Canadian counterpart, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority in Canada, they have developed a collaborative approach to address key environmental issues. The 2020 Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy is a voluntary collaboration among four port authorities with a vision to reduce—and ultimately eliminate—seaport-related air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions throughout the Georgia Basin-Puget Sound airshed. The Northwest Seaport Alliance built this strategy through extensive engagement, and it represents an important step to catalyze collaboration across the ports, industry, government, and community towards this collective vision.
Committed to be carbon neutral by 2050, Port of Seattle imposed 100% shore power for cruise ships wishing to utilize their terminal. Being a big hub for Northern cruises, it is an important statement regarding nature preservation in tourism, and a first in the cruise sector.
At Port of Vancouver, the 4th largest port in North America, collaboration involves a staggering number of stakeholders. How do you manage growth and innovation in collaboration with 16 municipalities and 35 indigenous communities? There isn’t a simple answer for that. But intentions are leading to tangible actions.
Among many initiatives, I would underline ElectRA – a partnership between EVR and SAAM Towage to deploy two electric tugboats at Neptune Terminals. This is a first for the Port of Vancouver and is helping to reduce CO2 emissions in EVR’s supply chain. Along with reducing emissions, the 100% electric tugs, which began operating in May 2024, also emit considerably less marine noise, which can benefit marine life in the harbour where they operate. The two ElectRA 2300 SX tugs are energized by two Li-ion battery groups, making them 100% electric, zero emissions vessels, powered from British Columbia’s hydroelectric grid.
The Enhancing Cetacean and Habitat Observation (ECHO) Program is most definitely on the radar. It coordinates voluntary, seasonal measures to reduce the impacts of commercial shipping on at-risk whales off British Columbia’s southern coast. Utilizing hydroponic underwater technology for mammal detection, the ECHO Program focuses on reducing acoustic and physical disturbance from ships on at-risk whales such as the southern resident killer whales, through voluntary initiatives such as voluntary ship slowdown and voluntary inshore lateral displacement. In total, more than 100 marine transportation organizations voluntarily participated.
Prince Rupert Port Authority is also tackling ESG head on. The organization has voluntarily set an ambitious target of 20% ESG reduction by 2030 and aims at being net-zero by 2050. More than 80% of their overall emissions come from big vessels, therefore reduction necessarily means optimization. In collaboration with Innovate BC, they have launched the HDZEV project – low- /zero-emissions vehicles.
This pilot project seeks to derisk and expedite the adoption of zero- and low-emission trucks by operators across the province. Four new trucks will be deployed on existing operational routes: two hydrogen-powered, one battery-electric and one hydrogen-diesel co-combustion. The operations of these four new trucks will provide valuable data to enhance the understanding of their range, reliability, and potential optimal use cases. Prince Rupert Port Authority also leads the Green Wave program that provides financial incentives and awards to shippers who voluntary invest in environmentally sustainable practices.
Innovation Deployment for a Greener Future
Also worth noting, the first cruise-led green corridor dedicated to the tourism industry was launched at COP26 in Glasgow and is now running at full speed. Signed by the 14 first movers (Port of Seattle, which chairs the project, Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, Greater Victoria Harbour Authority, the city/boroughs/municipalities of Juneau, Sitka, Skagway and Haines; Carnival Corp. & plc, Royal Caribbean Group, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and Cruise Lines International Association; and NGOs Global Maritime Forum, Blue Sky Maritime Coalition and Washington Maritime Blue), the Pacific Northwest-to-Alaska Green Corridor aims to improve public health in the near-term while transitioning to zero-emission solutions, particularly in communities experiencing environmental health disparities.
The green corridor pledges to ensure the safety of near port populations, workers, residents, cruise employees and passengers when implementing the green corridor and to ensure that decarbonization pathways do not exacerbate other environmental issues, and whenever possible maximize the co-benefits, such as underwater noise reduction, air and water quality, waste reduction, and marine ecosystem protection. Operating successfully on a fully voluntary program is a veritable sandbox of opportunities.
A lovely discovery was HTEC, an innovative company that produces and liquifies hydrogen. Thanks to the support of the Canada Infrastrusture Bank (CIB) for derisking the technology, they are the first company to establish and operate Canada’s first hydrogen refueling station network, making zero-emission travel and transport possible.
CIB also invested $75M to support BC Ferries’ electrification of its fleet. Being the largest ferry operator in the world with more than 20 routes, the acquisition of seven fully electrical vessels is a breath of fresh air for British Columbia and Washington state citizens.
Another news worth celebrating is Seaspan’s LNG series of three bunkering vessels. For the design of the LNG Bunker Vessels, Seaspan worked closely with the Canadian-based team at VARD Marine Inc. to incorporate emerging technologies resulting in a decrease in emissions and underwater noise. The design is focused on safe, efficient, and economical refueling of multiple ship types with an ability to transfer to and from a wide range of terminals. The design will allow the vessel to engage in ship-to-ship LNG transfer along with coastal and short-sea shipping cargo operations.
The Seaspan Baker is currently targeted to service the Long Beach container ship market and will join the Seaspan Lions in providing Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) fueling services for vessels on the West Coast of North America. The Seaspan Garibaldi is set to deliver low-carbon solutions to the global market and will be based in the Panama region. The Seaspan Garibaldi (Nch’ḵay̓) and the Seaspan Lions (Ch’ich’iyúy Elxwíkn), were delivered this year, while Seaspan Baker, named after Mount Baker, will arrive in 2025.
Let’s remember that British Columbia (BC) is home to world-class clean technology companies, hosting approximately 20% of Canada’s cleantech firms. Listed in the 2024 Global Cleantech 100, BC is actively driving toward a cleaner future through advancements in clean transportation, energy efficiency, and the development of clean technologies. With start-up incubators/accelerators such as Foresight Canada, COAST, and Washington Maritime Blue collaborating with key Pacific Coast marine industry players, there is a palpable will to engage in maritime innovation and we can certainly envision a cleaner future in the region.