New vessel energy efficiency requirements will create a need for more vessels on the water, leading shipowners have said.
Speakers at Capital Link's Decarbonisation in Shipping online forum welcomed the International Maritime Organization's Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index (EEXI).
The intention is to force vessels to match the design efficiency of new ships.
Lars Pedersen, chief technical officer at Frontline Management, said EEXI is a welcome move to a greener and cleaner approach. And he added that most of Frontline's tankers already meet EEXI targets, owing to its relatively young and efficient fleet.
Older ships will need to fit energy-saving devices, limit power or slow down, the executive said.
More ships required
"This may very well mean that more vessels will be required on the water to transport the same cargo, as each voyage will take a longer time," he added.
"This can also turn into a really positive thing for business development in shipping, linked to supply and demand."
Scott Bergeron, director of business development and strategy at Oldendorff Carriers, is expecting final IMO guidelines on the measure in June. But he said: "It's already yesterday's news."
Bergeron added: "This is the first time where I see acceptance from the charterers to recognise that we're in this together."
He explained that in the past, over issues like ballast water and IMO 2020, questions from the charterer might have been along the lines of "how are you going to deal with this?"
In it together
Today the conversations now feature charterers asking "how are we going to deal with this?"
"That's really a big step. To use a pandemic phrase, in the war on carbon, we are truly all in this together," the executive said.
Bergeron told the panel that older ships are "going to have to do something" about EEXI.
He believes the best way to address the problem at source is to fit engine-power limiters, which he said are inexpensive.
"Over the last 18 months there's been a huge call to reduce speeds," Bergeron added.
For Oldendorff, he said, there will have to be a power reduction of between zero and "the mid 30 per cents" for some of the group's older ships.
In terms of speed, the reductions will be in the single digits.
Tonnage taken out?
Moderator Andrew McKeran, Lloyd's Register's maritime performance services director, said EEXI measures could "take out tonnage if there's not a return on investment".
Dmitris Vastarouchas, deputy chief operating officer and technical director at Danaos Shipping, said EEXI is a useful tool for the company, but he does not see any serious effect on its fleet of efficient boxships.
He added that some factors are out of shipowners' control, however.
"Who will pay for the carbon tax? Nobody knows," he said. "How will banks take into consideration ... the various bench-markings?" He concluded: "EEXI is welcome and we need to comply with it."
