Aronnax

The International Maritime Industry, through the environmental protection committee is working to find agreement on how to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of shipping.It is difficult as member states send representatives to toe a particular political line, making compromise hard. However it is not impossible, but progress is slow (which annoys the green lobby groups) and the debate sometimes heated (especially as the current meeting is online and subject to truncated hours and ongoing technical glitches).However while the IMO member state representatives debate the future of shipping, the secretariat continues to do its work, which also includes realising its plans for the newly formed Partnerships and Projects department, which amongst other things aims to mobilise funds and resources to help countries, notably developing countries, with their decarbonisation plans (including getting their regulations sorted).I spoke to Jose Matheickal, Partnerships and Projects department chief earlier in the year about the formation of this department, and with the November climate talks in full swing, I poke to him again to hear about some of the projects, notably the issue of project finance and how to mobilise finance for international decarbonisation, given some of the announcements the department has recently made.

In this episode of Aronnax, host Craig Eason is in France (albeit remotely) to talk to two people working in the field of wind-powered systems to see what can make shipping a more attractive industry for today's young professional.Is shipping sexy enough for the millennials that are today's university graduates and tomorrow's game changers.He asks a naval architect and project manager, SImon Watin about switching from the glittery world of high octane ocean racing yachts and luxury cruisers to the more industrial commercial world. Simon works at VPLP and is working on the new ro-ro vessel being built to carry Arianes's space rockets to French Guiana. The vessel is being built with four giant wing-sails that Simon and hos colleagues have developed from the racing world.Then we hear from Vincent Bernatets founder of AirSeas, a company that is putting a huge kite system onto an Airbus ro-ro ship that will take Airbuses airplane parts around Europe.These two French companies with their different wind assist technologies represent the cutting edge of change in the shipping industry.

In this episode we start with a look at ITF concerns about the use of ships' crews, who may be stranded onboard due to Covid restrictions, performing safety related surveys. We hear from Odd Rune Malterud, co-author of the ITF report "Beyond the Limit" about what needs to change, and to DNV GL's maritime CEO Knut Ørbeck-Nilssen about the value of being able to do remote surveys and so keep ships in service.Then.Angela is a coastal Chief Engineer in the US having gone to maritime academy in 2004. She shares some of her experiences throughout her career and why she thinks it is important that we all share responsibility for the future of our industry (Including where dads and mums can encourage daughters to get involved in maritime and shipping careers).I also talk to GIna Panayiotou, a maritime lawyer about the recourse that those who are bullied or victims of abuse can have, and where she thinks more responsibilities lie. Gina is also the founder of the It's All About Shipping Facebook stream, and passionate about sharing the benefits of maritime careers among younger people who our industry's ambassadors of the future.

The European Parliament voted on amendments to a proposal that will have sweeping implications. Craig Eason, Editorial Director at Fathom.World the shipping and maritime news portal speaks to Martin Dorsman at the European Community Shipowners' Associations, which represents national shipowner associations in policy issues in Brussels. Craig also talks to Jasper Faber, maritime specialist at CE Delft, who has been a key author of the IMO's 4th study into shipping's greenhouse gas emissions, to find out how this report differs from the rest and how it makes shipping more visible and likely to change.

Craig Eason speaks to Jutta Paulus, Green MEP about her push to include shipping in Europe's emission trading scheme, as well as her proposal to force existing ships to improve efficiency by 40% by 2030. He also talks to Adam Berman (International Emissions Trading Association) to explain how the ETS works, what impact shipping's introduction may have on other sectors and finds out what he has heard about a Carbon Border Mechanism that could also have an impact on vessels coming into European ports.

This is our last episode before a summer break, and we have the last of the three episodes looking at the development of autonomous ships and autonomous vessel systems.We have heard about the commercial projects and the development of international regulations earlier, but not all the technologies on autonomous vessel systems are bound for vessels that need to company with the international regulations that have been written by the International Maritime Organisation. There are many drones, and autonomous systems that have, and still are being developed for research and military space.So in this episode we will look at the startup market, and what is happening to create the link between innovation and commercial reality.I also have the second half of my interview with Brett Phaneuf, the American behind the Mayflower project that will send an IBM powered autonomous ship to resail the route of the original Mayflower, which sailed from Plymouth UK to Plymouth, USA 400 years ago.Now, autonomous systems seem to eb growing in popularity, and certainly have captured the public imagination.So, what do we mean about autonomous technology? Nick Chubb, founder and CEO at the research consultancy Thetius in the UK recently published a report on the autonomous vessel market.So I asked him to explain the potential market and where the growth will come.We also talked which countries are taking the lead in autonomous start-up systems for research and developmentHe talked about the US and Israel, andit is to Israel that welook. The country has an extremely buoyant startup market where backing is available for business to business solutions, and one nexus for shipping and maritime startups in the country is the Dock Innovation Hub, a startup accelerator that has now become a venture capital fund, backing the maritime startups that it bringing into its ecosystem. In June the Dock launched a call to find some autonomous system startups to meet the demands of two of its corporate clients.These two clients are ThyssenKrupp’s marine systems division, and a subsidiary of the same company called Atlas Elektronik. Both are based in Germany. These companies are already well now military and maritime systems developers, with a history in warfare and naval technologies, remote sensing and increasingly automation. Atlas Elektronik has already developed autonomous minesweeping which it now supplies to the British Royal Navy.They have teamed up with the Dock to find new technologies and startups that address a range of challenges. They launched the call in June this year, and hopeful startups have until August to send in applications based on a range of different technology needs that are being sought.This then is a good chance to get a feel for the autonomous systems market, and where the ideas are coming from.I spoke to Nir Gartzman, which is the chief Operating Office at the Dock in Israel to find out how many startups he thinks there are and why large corporates with existing expertise in developing innovative systems would go looking for startups?And the episode ends with the second half of my recent chat with Brett Phaneuf. Brett is in charge of the Mayflower Autonomous Ship Project which has built an autonomous unmanned trimaran style vessel that will use IBM software – algorithms. Artificial intelligence. As well as sensing technologies to sail later this year from Plymouth, England, to Plymouth USA. Yes, the same two ports that the Mayflower vessel sailed between with the mostly Dutch and English pilgrims 400 years earlier.My interview with him went beyond the actual voyage and to what he thinks the voyage will achieve and change things both for science and the technology and use of autonomous systems.