Globalisation




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In October the 70th session of the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC) decided that the implementation date for the global fuel sulphur cap of 0.5% should be 2020. A study commissioned by the IMO reported in August that “under all scenarios and sensitivity options considered, there will be sufficient clean fuel available in 2020” Whether there will be sufficient clean fuel is perhaps up for debate, right up to the October session The Baltic International Maritime Council (BIMCO) was arguing that “it is not possible to determine that the global refining industry will have the capacity to produce enough marine fuel by 2020.” As someone who has made a living in the marine industry all my life, and for many years in the bunker industry, I can see both points of view. What I can also see though is that in reality it doesn’t actually matter. Humanity has become obsessed with making decisions on the basis of predicting the outcomes of all options, if recent history has taught us anything, it is that these predictions, however earnestly arrived at, are mostly incorrect and the truth is there are a great many situations in which we just have to make the best decision we can and make the outcome good through the way in which we commit to it. The hugely good news is that the shipping industry is now in no doubt that the limit will be enacted and knows exactly when. There will inevitably be a raft of measures to offer schemes to help specific trades and types and age of vessel, but by and large we know what we’re dealing with. The uncertainty of the implementation date over the last few years has inevitably created a kind of paralysis in the industry, both in terms of the evolution of compliant fuels and the development and take up of abatement technologies. This has made the decision making process for ship owners and operators terribly difficult, a five or more year window for implementation puts some ships in the envelope for capital investment and takes other out. We hope that the certainty we now have will help owners and operators make informed decisions about how best to comply. The truth is the global refining industry will not need to produce sufficient compliant fuel for the worlds fleets, the shipping industry is populated by some truly innovative minds and responsible operators will find a variety of way of complying. By that I do not mean CATNAP, “Cheapest Available Technology Narrowly Avoids Prosecution” but rather, innovative fuel types, abatement technologies (of various types) and alternative propulsion methods. The global shipping industry faces challenges on a regular basis and has overcome greater ones than this, I have every faith that it will come up with some interesting ways to make this work.


Stretch Targets Require Support


In the marine industry one often sees the results of technical and operational teams being stretched by the requirements of both practicality and regulation. Quite rightly of course, the priority is always to meet safety requirements, ensuring that the safety of vessels, crew and passengers are never compromised. Given that safety always takes priority, technical management teams tend to be scaled to meet the safety requirements and have enough flex to meet the challenges that operating ships will always generate. Drydocking, voyage repairs, refurbishments and critical defects are, or should be, all within the capability of the technical and operational teams. What we do see however is that episodic occurrences of major projects, be they driven by regulation, e.g. Sea Water Scrubbing or Ballast Water Treatment, or driven by market requirements like conversions to meet new cargo requirements, can stretch technical teams to the limit and beyond. It is incredibility difficult to pull personnel away from the day to day management of ships to immerse themselves in major projects, especially as the people you most want running big projects are usually the most capable and as such integral to the everyday operation. Augmentation is an obvious option, but one which shipowners are often reluctant to engage with. This is understandable, anyone who has worked in the industry knows the value of experience and a calm head when dealing with ships and does not want just anyone, however highly academically qualified, messing with their fleet. At Oceanox we have assembled a team which has operated at the highest level in ship operations, both civilian and military as well as within the ship repair industry. It is with a team like this that we can genuinely make a difference in assisting shipowners with major challenges.-




Gaining and Sustaining Momentum

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Retrofitting scrubbers, as with any multi-disciplinary and multi-organisational project, needs to gain and sustain momentum. At the outset a ship owner recognises a legislative requirement and after much deliberation decides upon a means of compliance. The means requires an organisation to provide a system design which will achieve compliance. It also requires an architect to design the solution into the existing equipment. The system and installation design then need to be approved by an appropriate authority. Once this is done a shipyard needs to price the installation of the system from the installation design. The shipyard and indeed the architects and system designers will all have sub-contractors providing elements of their section of the project. Each of these organisations, from the perspective of the project, start from a position of inertia. Whilst they may have mobilised marketing and sales resources, moving on to estimating and quoting, during the business acquisition process, the delivery of the project entails the mobilisation of a different group within the supplier organisations. Different types of organisations have differing levels of inertia, smaller suppliers will often use the same people to quote for business as those who actually carry out the work. With larger organisations a whole new set of stakeholders need to be brought into the fold, briefed and set to work. The value of the project to each participant must be understood and communicated in generating the initial momentum. All of the stakeholders, at a macro level, have a common objective; successful delivery, but in the operational nitty gritty the macro can be forgotten in the face of local or short term expediencies. It is vital that the project is managed in such a way that all concerned are kept informed of the progress of all elements and maintain focus on the final objective. "Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success." - Henry Ford


Humanising Communications

There can be no doubt that advances in technology have aided communication, the speed and volume of communication has increased dramatically over the last two decades. Being of a “certain age” I am lucky to have seen the evolution first hand, and in many cases from the perspective of the technology procurer. I can remember the staunch opposition put up by my colleagues in shipbroking to the heresy I suggested when discarding telex as the primary communication device. Equally I recall with fondness sitting in front of a fax machine trying to get a passenger manifest through to a cruise ship via Inmarsat. Now, the ability to quickly send large amounts of data to pretty much anywhere is taken for granted, this is a huge advantage when co-ordinating such complex projects as installing sea water scrubbers. Equally though, it presents some challenges. By their very nature, these projects are complex and multi-disciplinary. Naval Architects, Chemical Engineers, Marine Engineers, Commercial Managers, Specialist Fabricators and a myriad of others need to communicate quickly and effectively, each with their own perspective of the situation. If you layer onto this the cultural perceptions of suppliers and contractors from different continents and backgrounds, an over reliance on technology to assist communication can lead to problems. There are times when having a conversation, humanising the contact, has a huge benefit to understanding and project progress. Firing off an email in response to a challenge can work, but it can just as often exacerbate the problem, sometimes, picking up the phone or actually meeting up is the best way forward. In our current project, installing sea water scrubbers in two ECA operating ferries, we have found that gently encouraging two parties with opposing views on the best way forward to sit down and talk, often leads to innovation and a better solution. So by all means, utilise the technology to the fullest extent to facilitate data sharing, but don’t get out of the habit of discussing things in person!-




Co-ordination is the key

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It was reported in Sustainable Shipping today that Ferry Operator DFDS has declared that sea water scrubbers are “Good for the pocket and the environment” and that “experience has proved the technology’s worth” Viewed alongside recent announcements from operators Brittany Ferries and others it is clear that the scrubbing market is taking off in a very real sense. For this to be the case ship operators have been through an extensive process to Assess the Impact of Legislation, Develop a Business Case, Technology Selection, Negotiation, Project Management and Integration. To my knowledge no-one has ever sought to understate the challenges of installing large, expensive pieces of equipment in existing vessels, what our experience does show however is that a successful conclusion can be hugely influenced by the project structure. Installations of sea water scrubbers require a multi-disciplinary approach, the efforts of Naval Architects, Technology Providers, Shipyards and Marine Engineers must be harmonised to ensure that deliverables are met and efforts not duplicated. If the co-ordination/integration function is not properly managed uncertainty can develop and what starts as a positive project can degenerate into a “who’s to blame” culture. At the end of the day, shipowners do not install scrubbers because it’s an interesting technology, but rather because they seek a compliant solution to a legislative challenge. At Oceanox we seek to focus on delivering compliance through co-ordinating the whole process.