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Knut Ørbeck-Nilssen, CEO of DNV GL – Maritime, predicts a lot of efforts to meet the ambitious climate targets set by the IMO. He says that all players in the industry including academia and public funding should join forces to develop innovative technologies

In terms of fuels and propulsion systems, a few years ago LNG seemed to be the hot topic. What[ds_preview] are your expectations, does it still have the biggest potential or will it rather be a mixture of fuels and propulsion systems in the future?

Knut Ørbeck-Nilssen: It all depends on what time perspective you take on this. If you look more to 2020 when the sulphur cap will be introduced, it is pretty obvious now that the majority will go either for distillates or blended fuels. Neither Scrubbers nor LNG will be first choice if you compare the exiting vessels and orders. The interesting question is what will happen in the decades to follow.

I am sure, that we will see a much more diverse fuel picture. There are quite a number of options like LNG, LPG, ethanol, methanol or hydrogen, although some of them will need more time to mature. As a first step, gas based fuels will take a dominant role. But with regard to the greenhouse emission target set by the IMO, neither LNG nor LPG will deliver what is expected. So, alternatives have to be developed. In shortsea shipping I really believe that the use of batteries will constitute quite a significant portion.

For coastal ferries, batteries are already in use. Do you believe that batteries will be powerful enough to fuel other kinds of ships, feeder container vessels, for example?

Ørbeck-Nilssen: If you look at the automotive sector, you see huge improvements in terms of capacity and battery life cycle. Inevitably, this development will also be relevant for the shipping industry. However, it has a limitation on how far you can go. Probably hybrid solutions will take on a more dominant part especially when you are approaching the port areas or special environmental zones. For the long haul it is not a viable solution. Nevertheless, batteries can still be quite useful as an auxiliary power source, e.g. for crane operations.

What about fuel cells?

Ørbeck-Nilssen: We have done quite a bit of research on this. But it is still an immature technology especially to put it on an ocean going vessel. We do need new solutions, but other technologies seem to be promising in the first run. Again, as a supplementary power source, fuel cells might be an interesting topic and we need new technologies.

Speaking of research and innovations … From DNV GL’s point of view, what could be the most important projects in the coming years?

Ørbeck-Nilssen: Well, naturally energy transition in general remains one of the most important topics for us. What we need is a broad collaboration with the whole industry and academia with support from public funding. There is really a gap that needs to be filled. Second, autonomous shipping. We are not talking about unmanned vessels, but about a higher degree of autonomy on-board the vessels and a better connection between ship and shore. But this will be also an area where you need to test out quite a few things to make sure that the technologies will meet all technical, safety and legal requirements. Our first project will be the Yara Birkeland. It’s a niche but also a fantastic test bed.

What about scaling this project to even larger applications? Could autonomous container vessels on the big trades become reality?

Ørbeck-Nilssen: Again, you should never say never. If you look at the technologies, it might be possible. If you look at the regulations it’ll take a lot of work and time to go there. And it is also an issue of maintenance if there is no crew on-board. Port time is very precious, so when and by whom should it be done? In the end, it is up to the ship owner to answer this question.

Do you expect any consolidation among classification societies and will you be part of it in the future?

Ørbeck-Nilssen: »Expect« is a strong word. In the maritime industry going forward, scale and innovation will be key. That applies to shipping companies, yards, suppliers and to classification societies as well. The move that we made five years ago was quite good, we are really benefitting from it. Does is make sense to improve scale? Yes. But we have no plans at the moment.
Interview: K. Förster / M. Meyer