Fortnightly maritime news for the industry and PortXL community
AI implemented to improve safety and reduce insurance costs
Petredec is trialling this technology in partnership with North P&I Club and Orca AI. They are looking to revolutionise marine insurance pricing and claims through an enhanced data model for ships that more accurately reflects their risk profile.
SRTI report: Twelve major shipowners to accelerate responsible ship recycling
Ship Recycling Transparency Initiative (SRTI) hosted by the Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI) has reached the number of 3,439 vessels whose owners and operators are part of the responsible ship recycling program, according to a new report.
Eindhoven-based Ioniqa Technologies raises €10M to make PET plastic a sustainable material
Ioniqa Technologies is a clean-tech spinoff from the Eindhoven University of Technology (NL), specialised in creating value out of PET waste by using its proprietary circular technology. With a cost-effective process, Ioniqa claims to close the loop for plastics, starting with PET plastics. The company’s innovation transforms all types and colours of PET plastic waste into valuable “virgin-quality” materials for food-approved PET plastic. Besides, up-cycling processes for other types of plastic are also being researched and are expected to be launched in the near future by the company.
Sand, ice and supercritical CO2: innovative long-duration system offers ‘cheapest energy storage yet’
An innovative thermal energy storage system that uses sand, water and carbon dioxide as its core components promises to be among the lowest-cost long-duration options available, and a potential game-changer for renewable energy back-up. Ohio-based Echogen says that its PTES (Pumped Thermal Energy Storage) system will deliver a levelised cost of storage (LCOS) of $50-60/MWh for a 100MW facility once it reaches commercial maturity around 2030 — prices that would equally apply for eight or 100 hours of storage.
Data consumed per ship during the pandemic has nearly tripled
Total data consumed per ship on average during the pandemic has nearly tripled, dramatically changing the connectivity at sea picture within a short timeframe. Taking statistics looking at the average daily download and upload volume rate on 11,000 vessels using Inmarsat’s Fleet Xpress from January last year to March 21 this year, total data consumed per ship has leapt from 3.4 gigabytes a day to 9.8 gigabytes a day. By way of comparison, global internet usage has just about doubled around the world during the same pandemic period.
IEA forecasts shipping will fall short in 2050 zero emissions rush
Shipping was responsible for 830m tonnes of CO2 emissions globally last year, down from 880m tonnes in 2019, according to the IEA. The IEA is forecasting emissions from shipping will decline by 6% annually to 120m tonnes of CO2 in 2050. The IEA believes that in the medium- to long-term, significant shipping emissions reductions can be achieved by switching to low‐carbon fuels such as biofuels, hydrogen and ammonia.
Europe’s ports need multi-billion dollar boost to support offshore wind drive
European ports will need new infrastructure and considerable investment over the next few years to manage the growth of the region’s offshore wind sector, a new report from industry body WindEurope said. In its report, published last week, the Brussels-headquarted wind advocate said Europe’s ports would have to invest €6.5bn ($7.9bn) by 2030 in order to support the expansion of offshore wind. The EU’s goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050 necessitates a 25-fold increase in offshore wind. Already, in the next 10 years, the volume of offshore wind in Europe needs to rise from 25 GW to over 110 GW.
