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The Path to Decarbonization of the Maritime Industries - Season 8 -

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Participation in Global Conferences

Participation in the AVL(*1) High Power System Conference

Between April 17 and 18, 2024, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Marine Machinery & Equipment participated in the technical conference organized by AVL, which is held once every three years in Graz, Austria.
At this conference, experts from various industries gather to exchange visions, announce the latest technologies and, in the process, chart a course towards a decarbonized and sustainable future. We also took the stage to give a lecture on “the International Maritime Organization (IMO)’s GHG reduction targets and the maritime industry's ability to accommodate alternative fuels.”
We explained the importance of improving the energy efficiency of ships in service and accelerating retrofit business such as energy-saving devices in order to achieve the 2030/2040 mid-term targets set by IMO.
Throughout the conference, there were strong opinions that methanol and ammonia would continue to constitute mainstream decarbonized fuels in the maritime industry. Regarding hydrogen, while progress is being made in the development of related systems, the majority opinion was that it would take a little more time.
(*1)AVL：A world-leading mobility technology company in the automotive, railway, marine and other fields.

Photo of the Conference

2)Attendance the MMMCZCS (*2) Accelerate Partner Summit

Attending this summit held in Copenhagen, Denmark between May 15 and 16, 2024 were six members from the MHI Group, a core strategic partner of the MMMCZCS. Approximately 400 management executives from global companies across the entire value chain, including those from upstream companies, gathered to verify their current positioning with respect to targets to achieve ahead of the goal of zero emissions in the maritime industry by 2050 formulated by the IMO in July 2023 as well as to exchange opinions and hold discussions on areas such as challenges in achieving those targets, including those at intermediate points of 2030 and 2040; initiatives geared towards addressing those challenges; and the priority of those initiatives. There, discussions and networking took place in the form of lectures, panel discussions and workshops.
Where alternative fuels are concerned, there has been a steady and gradual increase in projects surrounding green/e-methanol, blue/e-ammonia, biofuels and biomethane. We got the impression that a general path for the transition of marine fuels has come into view.
On the other hand, we also confirmed that it would take some time for the stable supply, and prices of these alternative fuels becomes affordable to be spread, and in the meantime, retrofit projects related to energy saving and fuel conversion of ships in service, including propellers and main engines (turbochargers), would go on to increase.

(*2)MMMCZCS (Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping) :  A research center based in Copenhagen that accelerate decarbonization in the maritime industry.

Photo of the summit

Initiatives for Energy-Saving Device

Collaboration with Mitsubishi Shipbuilding (MHIMSB) on energy-saving device (ESD)

In the maritime industry, environmental regulations are being increasingly reinforced not only for new ships but also for those already in service with a view to achieving zero emissions by 2050. In addition to the introduction of the Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII), which was initiated in 2023 to check and evaluate yearly fuel efficiency results, the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU-ETS) was introduced in the EU in 2024 for marine transportation as well, making measures for ships in service an urgent issue.
In addition, building new ships with superior environmental performance is also difficult due to building slots at shipyards being almost fully booked until 2027-28. Due to this situation, the need for measures to improve propulsion performance and reduce GHG emissions for ships already in service is anticipated to continue to increase going forward for the purpose of achieving the GHG reduction targets set by the IMO.
Under these circumstances, we will do our part for the decarbonization of the maritime industry by cooperating with Mitsubishi Shipbuilding in a manner that leverages the strengths of both companies, which conduct related businesses in the MHI Group. Those strengths include our advantages of customer channels mainly consisting of overseas shipowners and know-how cultivated in retrofitting operations through Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Marine Machinery & Equipment’s propeller retrofit business and Mitsubishi Shipbuilding’s advantages of engineering resources that enable highly specialized technical reviews and know-how related to propulsion performance and energy-saving.
More specifically, in addition to the energy-saving solutions using turbochargers, waste heat recovery systems and propellers that have been proposed, collaborating with Mitsubishi Shipbuilding will enable us to add ducktail, windshield, bulbous bow modification, ducts, rudder bulbs and air lubrication systems to our line-up of ESD solutions for ships in service.
Additionally, If you provide us with the latest ship service data and other information needed for consideration purposes, we will also be able to examine the optimal ESD solutions for each ship.
Going forward, we will continue our efforts so that we may provide more attractive solutions based on changes in the market environment, starting with the decarbonization of the maritime industry, and on your increasingly diverse needs.

(Related link：https://www.mhi.com/products/ship/engineering_development.html)

Ship energy-saving Technology