This Thursday, September 29, 2022 is celebrated as World Maritime Day.
At the initiative of the IMO (International Maritime Organization) and its 164 members, this day aims to inform and raise awareness of the vital role played by the maritime sector.
The IMO is an organization responsible for ensuring the safety and security of shipping and preventing pollution of the seas by ships.
This year's theme is "New technologies for greener shipping", highlighting the need to support the maritime sector's transition to a more sustainable future.
This theme notably echoes several of the Sustainable Development Goals -SDGs- emanating from the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, entitled "Agenda 2030" and adopted in September 2015, by the 193 member states of the UN.
Our shipyards are committed to the sustainable development of eco-design. This is an approach that takes into account environmental impacts in the design and development of our vessels and integrates environmental aspects throughout their life cycle (from raw material to end of life, including manufacturing, logistics, distribution and use).
In this context, our ships are built in aluminum [an infinitely recyclable material] with the objective of increasing the percentage of recycled aluminum by designing hulls built entirely of recycled aluminum. In addition, our scraps and chips from the construction process are sent for recycling.
We are working on the development and control of energy consumption on board. Today, this involves two main areas of development within our shipyards:
👉 more environmentally friendly propulsion systems
👉A reduction in consumption
This work on reducing consumption in "hotel load" is an important point. It has a direct impact because it consumes less fuel, but it is also an opportunity to prepare for the future and to facilitate the integration of new systems such as batteries or fuel cells. A small parallel with the electric car which has optimized the consumption of its auxiliaries.
Our shipyards select equipment according to their electricity consumption, develop better insulation to reduce heating and air conditioning needs, work on optimizing electricity balances and using load shedding systems to reduce the power of generators, and even consider running on batteries
In 1874, in his novel The Mysterious Island, Jules Verne said "yes my friends, I believe that water will one day be used as a fuel, that hydrogen and oxygen, which constitute it, used alone or simultaneously, will provide a source of heat and light inexhaustible and of an intensity that coal could not have".
Some 150 years later, it is now possible to equip our ships with more environmentally friendly propulsion systems.
We offer Bureau Veritas Ultra Low Emission Vessel (ULEV ) classification, thanks to post combustion treatment systems. Indeed, even if low steaming is a commonly used solution, we can hardly play on this factor with our Crew Transfer Vessel currently used for their high speed.
In addition, we are equipping our cleanup vessels with electric propulsion. Our first vessel has been operational for nearly two years.
Moreover, hybrid systems, as on the road, allow to quickly overcome the problem of battery autonomy, and are easily integrated into our boats.
Finally, Efinor would like to quickly offer its customers even more environmentally friendly propulsion systems, based on hydrogen. We want to offer new, more environmentally friendly vessels to accompany these new offshore wind farm projects for which our Crew Transfer Vessels have all the qualities to meet the needs expected by our customers.