Maritime Matrix Today July 2021

MATRIX

TODAY

M AR ITI M E

US$ 3 • ` 150 Vol 10 • Edition 07 • July 2021

Mr Dilip Kumar Gupta

Sagarmala Programme promotes Coastal Shipping MEPC 76 adopts technical & operational measures to reduce carbon intensity Kanoo Shipping focuses on safety and welfare of their crew

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18

20

New Work-Rest Product launched Diversity in the Indian Maritime Industry: Hiring more women for profitable businesses

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34

02 | Maritime Matrix Today | July 2021

Maritime Matrix Today | July 2021 | 03

MEPC 76 adopts technical & operational measures to reduce carbon intensity

T

he 76th session of the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 76) was held remotely from 10 to 17 June. It adopted technical and operational measures to reduce carbon intensity of international shipping, taking effect from 2023.

On 23rd June, DNV conducted a webinar summarizing the measures discussed, which includes the Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index (EEXI), the enhanced Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP) and the Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) rating scheme.

Mr Tom Barrett, Global Head of Corporate Communications welcomed the presenters: Mr Eirik Nyhus, Director Environment and Mr Tore Longva, Principal consultant from DNV, Regulatory Affairs.

Citing IMO’s vision – IMO remains committed to reducing GHG emissions from international shipping and, as a matter of urgency, aims to phase them out as soon as possible in this century; Mr Nyhus said, “IMO aims to reduce total GHG emissions from shipping by at least 50% in 2050 compared to 2008 and reduce carbon

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intensity (carbon emission per transport work) by 40% in 2030 and 70% in 2050 compared to 2008.”

According to Mr Longva, the new measures will require all ships to calculate their EEXI following technical means to improve their energy efficiency and to establish their annual operational carbon intensity indicator (CII) and CII rating. Carbon intensity links the GHG emissions to the amount of cargo carried over distance travelled. The amendments to MARPOL Annex VI (adopted in a consolidated revised Annex VI) are expected to enter into force on 1 November 2022, with the requirements for EEXI and

CII certification coming into effect from 1 January 2023.

This means that the first annual reporting will be completed in 2023, with the first rating given in 2024.

They also highlighted the comprehensive set of guidelines, adopted by MEPC 76 to support the new requirements.

The webinar was followed by question and answer session where the presenters cleared the air around MEPC 76.

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Maritime Matrix Today | July 2021 | 05

China’s Exports Rebound

In

June, China’s exports and imports showed unexpected growth at the same time that massive disruptions rocked Southern China. This could be a sign of recovery after an economic slowdown caused by delays at the Yantian port, an effect that cascaded globally.

to lockdown restrictions in Southern China. During the same period, imports rose by 37 percent, also overturning an earlier prediction of 30 percent.

However, this was lower than May’s 51 percent year over year rise. In total, China had a trade surplus of $52 billion for June, compared to May’s $46 billion.

On Tuesday, China’s General Administration of Customs released data showing that Chinese exports increased by 32 percent from a year earlier in dollar terms, even more than the 28 percent gain recorded in May. This surpassed expectations from economists, who had forecasted a slowdown due

“The developments of foreign trade will face quite a number of uncertain and unstable factors in the second half of the year, as the coronavirus is still spreading at multiple places around the world and the pandemic situation remains complex,” said Li Kuiwen, the customs administration spokesman.

06 | Maritime Matrix Today | July 2021

However, Beijing still believes that the global macro-economic condition is very volatile.

Assistant Minister of Commerce Ren Hongbin said Monday that the ministry will redouble its efforts to stabilize trade and foreign investment.

Some economists believe the trade rebound observed in June could have been caused by high commodity prices, as observed for iron ore prices and high freight rates passed on to consumers.

Additionally, the unrelenting appetite for Chinese goods such as medical equipment and furniture could help account for the exports growth.

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Maritime Matrix Today | July 2021 | 07

New Work-Rest Product launched

L

eading marine operations software provider, Helm Operations, is looking to make waves in the crew management and compliance space with the launch of Helm CONNECT Work Rest, a new set of tools to help companies combat crew fatigue and ensure rest time compliance across their fleets by allowing them to efficiently manage onboard work schedules from a single screen. Focused on freeing busy crews from unnecessary

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paperwork and overly complex Excel sheets, Helm promises the new tool will let companies plan, forecast, and manage their work rest easily, guaranteeing their crew rest times are compliant with STCW rules or their own corporate standards—all in just three clicks.

Properly tracking crew work and rest hours is an imperative issue in the global maritime industry, where an estimated 75 percent of liability loss is caused by human

error, primarily linked to fatigue.

In response to these challenges, regulators have implemented ever more stringent work-rest tracking requirements, including ILO 180, the IMO’s STCW 2010 Manila Amendments, MLC 2013, and the US’s Subchapter M among a flurry of other national regulations. These rules require captains and operators to carefully manage crew shifts in an effort to manage fatigue and minimize accidents.

This is a challenging task given the dynamic nature of work onboard vessels and in ports, says Helm’s Steve Robertson, who helped lead the development of Helm CONNECT Work Rest alongside Product Manager, Shawn Verhagen.

“Vessel and port operations are highly complex, and crew often pick up additional work or participate in drills that delay or temporarily reduce their rest time,” says Mr. Robertson.

“This makes tracking rest time and forecasting who is allowed to work a difficult task with significant repercussions, including increased risk of injuries, casualties, and liability, as well as increased oversight from regulators.”

In addition, he says, the industry’s tools are often not up to the task. “During our research, we found that many companies still depend on paper logs or complex Excel sheets to manage work rest. Even in 2021, much of the industry is still using tools from 1984,” says Mr. Robertson.

“The tedious and error-prone nature of recording work rest information on paper or in Excel means companies run the risk of not properly tracking rolling 24-hour periods of time, pencil whipping, or worse, not tracking their hours at all. All of these can lead to non-compliance, putting both crew safety and the company’s reputation at risk. ” When it came to building Helm CONNECT Work Rest, Product Manager Shawn Verhagen had a clear vision. “Our goal in building Helm CONNECT Work Rest,” says Mr. Verhagen, “was to take all those risks away and make configuring rest time rules, scheduling crew, and tracking, and forecasting work and rest

time as simple as possible. The beauty of modern software that is we can take these surprisingly complex and difficult tasks, and turn them into a simple, visual workflow that ensures compliance in just three clicks.

It’s a process that every mariner can do quickly, easily, and safely.”

appeased the auditors, it seemed tedious and prone to ‘pencil whipping’. Helm CONNECT Work Rest has made my job easier by allowing me to create rules for compliance that will notify me when employees are not getting enough rest, ensuring we stay compliant and maintain a healthy workforce.”

Built based on direct feedback from captains, crews, and regulators, Helm CONNECT Work Rest makes it easy for anyone— even the most softwareaverse captain—to easily track and prove compliance with regulations. “In the case of the STCW rules, for example, we can apply them to a work schedule with a single click, making it easy for captains to see exactly what shifts their crews can and cannot work in order to stay compliant with international regulations,” says Mr. Verhagen.

The Work Rest module being rolled out today is just one of several new products being launched by Helm Operations, as it continues to expand internationally and into larger and more complex fleet operations. “What we’re seeing both in the US and in the shipping market globally,” says Helm Operations CEO Nolan Barclay, “is that the reliance on paper and legacy softwarebased approaches is causing the maritime industry to lag behind many other industries, with significant consequences for shipping companies and operators. Our vision for Helm CONNECT has always been to move the maritime software market from simply serving as systems of record to systems that actively optimize and simplify workflows for crews and operations managers. When we combine simplicity for the crew with a depth of functionality to help operators streamline and optimize their operations, as we have with Helm CONNECT Work Rest, then we can see the real transformation that’s possible in our industry.”

The new product further combines that ease of use with deeper functionality to ensure compliance, including easy configuration of rest time rules and crew schedules, a complete change log for auditability, use of 24-hour rolling periods, and even easy printing and reporting in USCG and other regulator formats.

These features are already being welcomed by the industry, which has often struggled to make work-rest tracking both easy and functional for its operations. Bill Sullivan, Manager of Regulatory Compliance and Vessel Repair at Donjon Marine, echoes Robertson and Verhagen and reflects on how Work Rest has changed their operations. ”At Donjon, we used to prove STCW compliance by completing a daily task using a paper-based work rest template. Although it

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Maritime Matrix Today | July 2021 | 09

Port of Antwerp to install extra container capacity Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO of Port of Antwerp; and container terminal in Port of Antwerp

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he Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), a European funding program, has announced that it will award €10.91 million ($12.8 million) in funding to the Port of Antwerp for a project to install extra container capacity.

As disclosed, the funding will be used for the port’s Extra Container Capacity Antwerp (ECA) project, which aims to increase the number of goods being transported by barge and rail in order to reduce emissions, while addressing current container traffic problems that the port is facing.

Furthermore, the funding will be used for financing the planned studies for sustainable solutions that take into account a balance between economy, environment and climate.

“The container segment has continued to grow, even during the challenging year we have 10 | Maritime Matrix Today | July 2021

just experienced. This therefore confirms the urgent need for additional capacity,” Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO of Port of Antwerp, said.

“However, the manner in which we create that additional capacity is at least as important. It must be achieved in a sustainable way that respects the climate and the environment, so that is why we are fully engaged in realising a more carefully designed project.”

Specifically, the project involves designing and creating the “dock of the future,” with hyper-efficient terminals that have a low carbon footprint, reduced emissions from ships, and stricter regulations on everything from shore power to construction techniques.

Emissions from ships and from terminals in the port will be kept to a minimum by means of lowemission handling technologies,

shore-based power, circular construction techniques and stricter regulations, according to the port.

In terms of logistics, the Port of Antwerp said the ECA project will in turn act as the lever that will enable transportation to become more environmentally friendly through the use of rail and inland navigation.

I created the project in response to Europe’s ambitions under the “Green Deal” and the Flemish mobility policy.

In May 2021, an international consortium led by the Port of Antwerp announced that it will receive a €25 million grant from the European Horizon 2020 program for an ambitious project that aims to make European ports greener.

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Team Matrix

Kamal Chadha Editor in Chief

Delphine Estibeiro Editorial Coordinator

Jagdamba Pandey Advertising Coordinator

Shirish Kirtane Sr Graphic Designer

RNI: MAHENG/2013/50159

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Maritime Matrix Today | July 2021 | 11

Harbor Lab welcomes 300th vessel to cloudbased disbursements tool

G

reek startup Harbor Lab welcomed in June its 300th vessel to its online disbursements platform.

The achievement was realised 15 months after the software company launched its disbursements accounting (DA) processing solution for the shipping industry, which gives vessels’ operators access to agents and vendors at ports across the globe reducing back office administration by 75%.

Launched in Athens, Greece, in March 2020, the Harbor Lab cloudbased DA tool was used to process more than 4000 port calls in its first year of operation.

The disbursements platform provides transparency to the vessel’s operator on port expenses that will be incurred during her stay at port, DA calculations and instant port cost estimations.

A combination of data scientists and experienced maritime professionals, the company’s port analysts, investigate and extract the methods that calculate all port expenses for all ports around the world, based on the official port tariffs for all vessels’ types.

Harbor Lab has digitalized all retrieved port-related data (e.g. official calculation methods) via dynamic programming techniques and construction of sophisticated formulas. Data validity is achieved through day-to-day communication with agencies around the globe.

Through the platform, end-users get a transparent overview of port costs, including port fees (loading/ discharging, pilotage), bunker prices, spare parts and other sundries.

12 | Maritime Matrix Today | July 2021

Harbor Lab’s CEO and Founder Antonis Malaxianakis says: “We are delighted to welcome our 300th vessel to our disbursements platform. When we launched Harbor Lab last year we set ourselves a target to celebrate our 20th vessel in December. In June we surpassed our target by 1000%. It’s great to know that so many vessel operators are already benefiting from our platform, reducing their back office administration and in control of their port costs through our cost comparison dashboard.”

Vessel operators, management companies and charterers pay a fixed fee per port call to access the system. Vendors and agents can register on the platform free of charge, with the option to upgrade to a premium subscription plan in a future release.

Around 1200 agents and vendors are currently registered and the operator can send multiple requests and appointments to an unlimited number of agents. Their rates are imported directly into the system, for evaluation by the operator.

Harbor Lab also provides training and demonstrations free of charge to interested parties.

Harbor Lab customer Product Shipping & Trading S.A.’s Managing Director, Th. Belexis says: “Harbor Lab is a valuable tool which allows users to manage and process DAs in a fast and efficient way. The platform is well-designed and easy to use. It transforms complex daily procedures to a simple and accurate operation.”

Further, Efi Sioziou, Commercial Operator, Swiss Chem Gas, says: “The Harbor Lab platform offers a unique architecture that gives our

Harbor Lab Founder and CEO, Antonis Malaxianakis

company full and easy control on all DAs of our fleet. Designed to facilitate the operation, accounting and management department of a shipping company to automatically check disbursement accounts.

Handles multiple collective and individual data with accurate entries.”

Harbor Lab’s CEO, Mr. Malaxianakis adds: “Having worked in disbursement accounting for seven years, I am familiar with the time and cost inefficiencies of conventional office-based methods. I created this platform to provide a central hub for all disbursement activities, to optimise workflows and to bring cost transparency to operators whilst their vessels are in port.”

The DA tool is one of three cloudbased solutions currently available from Harbor Lab. It also offers a position list to track vessels’ location and monitor weather enroute to destination, and a cost estimator to get approximate port expenses within seconds.

Harbor Lab’s software integrates with most ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems found in accounting practices, allowing full automation of data exchange between the platform and the clients’ ERPs. MMT

HSD Engine to offer ABB Ability™ Tekomar XPERT digital optimization K orean engine manufacturer HSD Engine is to offer ABB’s diagnostics and advisory software Tekomar XPERT to shipowners operating its two-stroke and four-stroke marine engines.

Tekomar XPERT is digital performance optimization platform applicable to any engine that can help shipping companies achieve substantial fuel savings and greenhouse gas emission reductions. Under the agreement, HSD Engine will offer the software as an option to shipowners, strengthening Tekomar XPERT’s position in the market.

Sang Min Lee, Senior General Manager, HSD Engine said: “In response to market demand, HSD Engine reviewed various solutions for engine performance optimization and evaluation. We expect that Tekomar XPERT will give us a competitive advantage in the market and our target is to provide it as part of our standard engine package. After a long partnership in the turbocharger field, we are pleased to extend our relationship with ABB into digital solutions to deliver even greater value for our customers.”

Cristian Corotto, Senior Vice President Digital Customer Solutions, ABB Turbocharging said: “This agreement is a strong endorsement of Tekomar XPERT’s capabilities and an important step in expanding the

From L-R: Young-Gi Kim, General Manager of strategy Business team, HSD and Sang-Min Lee, Senior General Manager of strategy Business team, HSD; Young-Ki Lee, Tekomar Global Sales Manager, ABB Turbocharging and Jae-Ung Park, Country Manager, ABB Turbocharging On screen left to right: Cristian Corotto, SVP Digital Customer Solution, ABB Turbocharging and Mauro De Micheli, Head of Sales, Marketing and Partnerships Digital Solutions, ABB Turbocharging

installed base. We are honored that HSD Engine has chosen to take this step into digital optimization with us.”

HSD Engine’s customers deploying Tekomar XPERT will benefit from significantly improved engine performance.

The software’s performance evaluation and advisory is based on high quality, reliable engine operating data, transforming them into actionable insights to reduce fuel consumption, cut emissions and optimize maintenance. In addition, using the Tekomar XPERT for fleet web application, managers can benchmark and optimize

engine performance even across diverse fleets with multiple engine types.

HSD Engine, previously known as Doosan Engine, has delivered low-speed and medium-speed marine engines developed by leading engine designers since 1983. It continues to deliver between 90-100 engines each year.

ABB Ability™ Tekomar XPERT currently has an installed base of more than 8,000 engines on more than 2,000 vessels.

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Maritime Matrix Today | July 2021 | 13

Could a NuclearPowered Cargo Ship Transit the Suez Canal?

O

ngoing

research

nuclear

energy

into

small-scale

conversion

has

advanced to greatly increase safety

with the development of sodium-cooled reactors and molten salt nuclear technology.

While the technology is potentially feasible, there remains the need to negotiate to gain passage through several channels and ports internationally.

14 | Maritime Matrix Today | July 2021

Introduction The history of nuclear ship propulsion dates back to the mid-1950’s when the United States developed the submarine Nautilus.

By late 1959, the Soviet Union answered the nuclear propulsion challenge with the launching of the icebreaker Lenin. Since that time, all nuclear-powered maritime vessels have been directly or indirectly connected to a national military or navy.

Recent advances in nuclear technology offers possibility for commercial propulsive application.

Environmental concerns about maritime sector greenhouse gas emissions have prompted research and development into a multitude of alternative fuels and ship propulsion technologies. While alternative fuels such as LPG and methanol fuels sustain the operation of internal combustion engines, other fuels such as hydrogen and reprocessed ammonia sustain operation of fuel cells that produce electricity. Some versions of new generation small-scale nuclear power resolve the problem of cooling reactors with high-pressure water or high-pressure helium gas. Widespread acceptance of nuclear powered commercial ships depends on assuring populations of the greater safety of contemporary nuclear technology.

Nuclear Concerns Nuclear incidents such as Fukushima (Japan), Three Mile Island (United States) and

Chernobyl (USSR – Russia) and the stockpile of semispent nuclear fuel rods have elicited much public opposition to expanding nuclear power.

While traditional nuclear reactors are cooled by water, helium gas pumped at high pressure cools some modern high-temperature reactors.

Structural failures in highpressure water-cooled or gas-cooled reactors have catastrophic implications.

Recent developments resolve the pressure problem by cooling the reactor with a liquid metal that melts just under 210 deg F (98 deg C) and remains liquid at 1470 deg F (800 deg C) while at atmospheric pressure.

Another unique nuclear technology involves adding nuclear material into molten salt, which also resolves concerns over cooling nuclear reactors with high-pressure steam or gas. Molten salt nuclear material becomes liquid at around 750 deg F (400 deg C) and is solid below that temperature. Some developing nuclear technology including variations of molten salt is able to reprocess semi-spent nuclear fuel. Any rupture of the molten salt nuclear reactor would result in a drop in temperature and solidification of the molten salt nuclear fuel, enhancing its safety and suitability for commercial ship propulsion.

Energy Conversion Efficiency Green hydrogen production requires electric power to achieve electrolysis, splitting hydrogen from oxygen at

65 percent to 75 percent conversion efficiency. Solidoxide fuel cells convert hydrogen to electric power at 55 percent to 65 percent efficiency, with overall energy conversion efficiency from electricity back to electricity of about 45 percent to 50 percent. A nuclear power plant can produce electric power at 36 percent efficiency from fuel rod to transmission line, yielding 18 percent peak overall efficiency from power station via hydrogen and fuel cell to ship propeller. Nuclear energy can indirectly be used to produce ammonia and also methanol, with losses in energy conversion efficiency.

Direct nuclear power generation aboard a ship bypasses the efficiency loses of producing any of hydrogen, ammonia or methanol. While low-grade exhaust heat from land-based nuclear power station can contribute to producing methanol, energy is required to cultivate and harvest the crops required for methanol production. Directly using nuclear power for commercial ship propulsion allows arable land to be used for food production to feed human populations, instead of cultivating crops to produce bio-fuel. Over the service life of a ship, there would be potential for a nuclear powered ship to be cost competitive against other zero-carbon technologies.

Ports and Suez Canal Public pressure and concerns for safety have prompted many coastal cities internationally

Maritime Matrix Today | July 2021 | 15

to prohibit nuclear powered vessels from entering ports.

At the present time, the Suez Canal Authority discourages nuclear powered vessels from sailing through the Suez Canal. Only under very rare occasions and courtesy of intergovernmental negotiation has the Suez Canal Authority allowed a nuclear powered vessel to transit through the canal. The threat of a breakdown occurring aboard a nuclear power ship while sailing through the canal would cause closure of the canal and massive loss of revenue for the Canal Authority.

Towed Vessels The Suez Canal Authority allows towed vessels to transit through the canal. There is usually some advanced notification and negotiation when a smaller vessel such as a tug tows a large vessel through the canal. On occasion, a large vessel has towed a much smaller vessel through the canal and such precedent provides a possible basis for future discussion and negotiation with the Suez Canal Authority. A future possibility would involve a small vessel generating electric power while being towed by a much larger vessel pulling a towing cable also that carries accompanying electric power cables.

A molten salt nuclear reactor could be deactivated prior to a nuclear-powered ship arriving at the entrances of Suez Canal, and a towed electric generator vessel would attach to each deactivated nuclear

16 | Maritime Matrix Today | July 2021

ship via towing cable and interconnecting power cables, providing propulsive energy and navigation control to the large ship. Electric power from the small towed vessel would sustain propulsion and navigation control for the large vessel. While such operation is technically possible, it has never operated through the Suez Canal and would require a policy directive from the Suez Canal Authority.

technology compared to earlier nuclear technology. All authorities would likely face public pressure to assure safety at ports and along the Suez Canal. Shipping companies considering future nuclear powered super-size container ships will need to negotiate with Suez Canal Authority and port authorities internationally.

On-Board Battery Power

Plans are underway in South Korea to develop a commercial ship powered by a molten salt nuclear reactor. It is one of the technology options as the international shipping industry transitions to lowcarbon emission and zerocarbon emissions propulsion.

There will likely be future discussion with the Suez Canal Authority in regard to nuclear powered commercial ships needing transit between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, also future discussion with port authorities internationally.

There is potential for battery technology to sustain lowspeed propulsion and ship navigation along the 120-mile length of the Suez Canal. The same batteries would provide short distance propulsion and navigation control when nuclear powered commercial ships arrive at and depart from ports that require de-activation of molten salt reactors aboard each nuclear commercial ship.

Alternatively, portbased battery vessels would connect via towing cable and interconnecting power cables to provide propulsive power and navigation to large nuclear powered commercial ships that arrive and depart with deactivated molten salt reactors.

Port authorities on several nations and the Suez Canal Authority would need to consider the future possibility of nuclear powered commercial ships arriving at port and asking to transit through the Suez Canal. Both the port authorities and Suez Canal Authority would need to be assured of the relative safety of molten salt nuclear

Conclusions

MMT (Courtesy: Maritime Executive)

CMA CGM Group launches Carrier Haulage service from Kolkata to Biratnagar

T

he CMA CGM Group, a world leader in shipping and logistics, launched its Carrier Haulage service from Kolkata to Biratnagar via road, where the first shipment was successfully transported on July 6th 2021. With this service, the Group is able to provide a seamless, one-stop solution to its customers for moving their cargo from Kolkata to Biratnagar.

Since 2017, the CMA CGM Group has been successfully operating its Rail Service to ICD Birgunj via Kolkata & Visakhapatnam. With the launch of the new Carrier Haulage Service, Biratnagar is the second key location in Nepal being covered by CMA CGM global network.

On the start of the new service, Mr Atit Mahajan – Managing Director of CMA CGM India said: “Our Group is on a strategic expansion to all key commercial locations globally.

Nepal is not just the neighbor country for India, it also holds key importance in our global commercial network. The new connection service will certainly boost our contribution to the blooming Nepal imports and to the Nepal trade overall. I am very hopeful that in the near future we will be able to cover many more key locations in Nepal.”

CMA CGM connects Nepal with its global maritime service via its hub ports in Colombo, Singapore and Port Klang which is connected to Kolkata and

Visakhapatnam via dedicated feeder services.

Present in India for over 30 years, the CMA CGM Group has established 20 offices nationwide, employing more than 5,000 staff members.

The Group operates 14 weekly mainline services via 7 gateway and 7 feeder ports in India. It also operates 12 weekly Block Train services starting from Mundra & Pipavav to various inland destinations PAN India along with an extended network of 69 Inland Container Depots (ICD) across India.

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Maritime Matrix Today | July 2021 | 17

Kanoo Shipping focuses on safety and welfare of their crew

-Jagdamba Pandey

Since the pandemic, Kanoo Shipping has managed to handle more than 650 vessels at Indian Ports and carried out more than 5000 crew changes so far in Indian Ports. Being the leading shipping agency in India, Kanoo Shipping has done many firsts when crew change started in India in 2020. “In complete lockdown, Kanoo Shipping was the first to do crew change in many ports in India, including first to do foreign seafarers signing off from Mumbai Port and Cochin Anchorage,” Capt Jha said.

Capt Amresh Jha

T

he ongoing C19 pandemic has affected our day to day life, and is slowing down the global economy. Amongst the many affected, seafarers were worst affected due to the lockdowns where they were at sea beyond their contract period.

Leading from the front, Kanoo Shipping India Pvt Ltd under the able guidance of Capt Amresh Jha, Director, Kanoo Shipping took various initiatives to facilitate crew changes and crew vaccinations across India.

“We have always been proactive in taking up difficulties, hindrances and customer concerns to the respective concerned authorities. Thus, we are able to assist our customers and seafarers in carrying out smooth crew changes during this most difficult period. Our effort continues in vaccinating seafarers in all Indian ports,” articulated Capt Jha.

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Continuing further, he stated that our efforts to vaccinate Indian seafarers’ onboard vessels brought another first for Kanoo Shipping. “On 27th June at JNPT onboard Ardmore Sealion and on 29th June at New Mangalore port onboard vessel Ardmore Engineer, we carried out Covishield first dose vaccinations. This is the first vessel at JNPT and New Mangalore port that was allowed for crew vaccinations. All the approvals were granted. We take this opportunity to thank the District Collector, Nodal Officer, Municipal, Ports, Deputy Conservator, PHO, and all the other authorities who were part of making this successful. We are grateful to our medical and operation team on the ground for executing it smoothly,” Capt Jha added.

Expressing his gratitude, he said, “There are many people to thank right from DG Shipping – Mr Amitabh Kumar; Capt Daniel for the assistance in crew change activities to FRRO, Ports, PHOs, Local Administrations, Labs, Hospitals, Quarantine Centres and my excellent team who has worked with me day and night to serve customers. Our esteemed customers Anglo-Eastern, D’Amico, Selandia, Elegant, Synergy, OSM, Wilhelmsen, S5 Agency World for all the support and opportunities.

Few names I would like to mention here are Mr

Maneesh Pradhan, Mr Rajiv Sarang, Mr Rohan Martin, Capt Bopana Mandana, Capt Kulwant Singh Budwal, Jonathan Bygrave, and Nikolai Norman, for being such great support and encouraging me which helped to go the extra mile to serve fellow seafarers and esteemed customers.”

“We look forward to assisting in crew changes and vaccination drives for seafarers at Indian ports.

We have done vaccination activities for joiners/off signers at Mumbai, JNPT, Vizag, Haldia, Kakinada, Vizhinjam, Kandla and very soon we are going to do at other port locations as well. Please do connect with us if you require any assistance for seafarers’ vaccinations or crew change in Indian ports,” Capt Jha concluded.

From being the first Arab shipping agency in the region in 1890, Kanoo Shipping has grown into the largest regional shipping service provider in the Middle East. With regionally centralized operations, finance, and communications, the Kanoo office network covers an extensive area, including the Gulf, the Red Sea, and the Indian Sub-continent. The largest independent family-owned company in the Middle East with 15, 000 ship calls every year and Offices in 19 countries covering 150+ ports. Kanoo Shipping is one of the founders of S5 Agency World Ltd, the rapidly growing global shipping agency company established to meet the increasing requirements of clients. Looking to benefit from the financial and the process efficiencies derived from global coverage.

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Maritime Matrix Today | July 2021 | 19

Mr Dilip Kumar Gupta

Managing Director, & Director (Projects) – Sagarmala Development Company Limited

Mr

Dilip

Kumar

Gupta,

Managing Director, & Director (Projects) –

Sagarmala Development Company Limited has handled several key infrastructure projects with the Central Public Works Department (CPWD). He has led the economic co-operation wing with the Indian Embassy in Nepal. He is a Civil Engineer from IIT Roorkee and Post Graduate from IIT Delhi. He is a Central Engineering Services (CES) officer from 1994 and has done his MBA from FMS Delhi in 2004.

In an exclusive interaction with Mr Jagdamba Pandey, Mr Gupta shares his thought on the upcoming projects.

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Sagarmala Programme promotes Coastal Shipping Please tell us about the three most significant projects in brief.

• Operationalization of Specialized Vessels on select routes This project is about the deployment of suitable specialized vessels such as Ro-Ro, ROPAX, PAX, etc on the identified routes which have an advantage over rail and road transportation in terms of saving on account of time/distance or cost.

Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW), through Sagarmala Development Company Limited (SDCL), is desirous of facilitating the companies to operate RO-RO, RO-PAX and Ferry services on various routes across the nation and provide the required support in terms of creation of suitable infrastructure and in procuring various approvals and clearances to make the project operational.

To gauge the interest of private sector in the project an EoI was issued by MoPSW/SDCL in December 2020 wherein 21 companies had participated and shown interest on deployment of specialized vessels on the various routes.

In order to systematically proceed ahead in the project, MoUs were executed with all 21 companies to explore and operationalize the initiative for the operationalization of specialized vessels on the various identified routes. This will entail an investment of Rs. 3,777 Cr with a direct employment

potential of 7,638 persons and indirect employment potential of 5, 09,890 persons.

The purpose is to create supplementary mode of transportation which will not only be beneficial for the daily commuters, tourists movement and cargo transportation but also helpful in reducing carbon footprint by shifting to environmentally friendly mode of transportation from rail and road, provides impetus to the tourism industry, create job opportunities and saving in terms of both cost and travel time for the users.

• Development of Product Specific Warehousing Space The project is to create Product Specific Warehousing Space/Silos such as Cement Silos, Liquid Tankers, Cold/Refrigerated Storage, Pharmaceutical storage etc at various Ports (including both Major and Non-Major Ports), MMLP (located near Port area) and alongside the Inland Waterways to reduce the storage losses, minimize overall logistic costs and to facilitate the consolidation / distribution of cargo in the hinterland.

MoPSW is desirous of facilitating the companies to develop and operate the Warehousing at the various identified locations and provide the required support in terms of procuring various approvals and clearances and also provide assistance in obtaining the land for the project as per the prevailing terms if available with port to make the project operational.

An EoI was issued by MoPSW/SDCL to gauge the interest of private sector in the aforesaid Project.

Based on the outcome of the EoI, MoUs were executed with 24 companies which had submitted their application in response to the EoI. As per MoUs executed, the project entails an investment of Rs. 7,544 Cr with a direct employment potential of 160,985 persons and indirect employment potential of 2,63,875 persons.

• MoU with IPRCL MoU with Indian Port & Ropeway Corporation formerly known as Indian Port Rail Corporation Ltd for working together for identifying and participating in the rail connectivity projects in coastal areas.

SDCL has already made equity investment in the Maritime Matrix Today | July 2021 | 21

two of the railway connectivity projects in the past, one is Krishnapatnam Railway Company Ltd and Haridaspur Paradip Railway Company Ltd both these projects are under operation and provide faster evacuation of cargo from the port.

What is the chief ingredient that goes into the making of a successful investment?

Prior making investments in projects, SDCL inhouse project management consultants minutely examine the financial details along with traffic data of the project.

Project will be taken up for investment only if a project falls under Sagarmala’s scope (as per the pillars defined in Sagaramla Programme i.e Port Modernization, Port Connectivity, Port Led Industrialization, Coastal Community Development and Coastal Shipping) and found to be financially viable after detailed financial due diligence.

Thereafter legal due diligence is carried out for the project and after the approval of the board, SDCL invests in the project.

How do you see the role of Indian ports evolving in the next half a decade?

Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) has been working continuously for the promotion of Coastal Shipping under Sagarmala Programme. The Sagarmala programme is the flagship programme of the Ministry to promote port-led development in the country through harnessing India’s 7,500 Km long coastline and potentially navigable waterways.

MoPSW is taking various initiatives for upgradation and modernization of port capacity in the country.

A road map has been prepared to increase the port

capacity to 3300 MT by 2025 to cater the growing traffic.

In addition to the enhancement of the port capacities, various projects are planned with respect to provide connectivity to the port for faster evacuation of the cargo to enable port to increase their handling capacity and achieve the target level of port capacity with a minimal infrastructure investments.

Furthermore, with the objective of propelling India to the forefront of the Global Maritime Sector, MoPSW has formulated Maritime India Vision 2030 (MIV 2030), a blue print to ensure coordinated and accelerated growth of India’s Maritime sector in next decade.

Maritime India Vision envisions an overall investment of Rs. 3, 00,000- 3, 50,000 cr across ports, shipping and inland waterways categories.

This vision roadmap is estimated to help to unlock Rs. 20,000+ cr worth of potential annual revenue for Indian Ports. Further, it is expected to create an additional approx. 20,000,000+ jobs (direct and non-direct) in the Indian Maritime sector.

Describe two areas in your current project, where there is a high level of uncertainty. How do you tackle these uncertainties?

One of the major challenges in infrastructure project is land acquisition, but with the assistance from both State and Central Government, the process is quite smoothening now.

Sometimes, resentments on environmental issues come up but efforts are made to maintain a balance between development and natural resources. Moreover, environmental challenges are not hurdles as sustainable development is the need of the hour.

Tell us about your international projects.

SDCL has invested in India Ports Global Ltd – 100% subsidiary of SDCL-for Chabahar Port operations. Investment in Chabahar port is first overseas investment of India in the field of mutual cooperation between two countries.

The Chabahar Project gives India a sea-land access route into Afghanistan and Central Asia through Iran’s Eastern borders.

MMT

22 | Maritime Matrix Today | July 2021

Mariner welfare’s shortcomings and achievements spotlighted

In

general the industry has widely spoken about seafarers’ welfare, the question now arises how much

has been done? Shedding some light on this Association of Maritime International Commercial Interests & Expertise (AMICIE) – a think tank of professionals from the maritime industry organised a webinar on 03rd July titled Mariners Welfare.

Maritime Matrix Today | July 2021 | 23

Capt Rajesh Tandon

Capt Y Sharma

Capt Ramesh Ramakrishnan

Capt Kamal Chadha

Capt Sudhir Subhedar inaugurated the session – Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) exists for the welfare of the seafarers, but how it remains effective. Capt Kamal Chadha, MD, Marex Media Pvt Ltd introduced the speakers.

Capt Sanjay Prashar

Capt Sanjeev Verma

Opening the panel discussion, Capt Rajesh Tandon, President, Vships expressed “if the MLC is followed in letter and spirit, it will effectively ensure that seafarers will get the minimum. The National welfare board for seafarers exists. However, they need to be more active, and have this welfare schemes in place, sooner or later.”

Capt Shiv Halbe, CEO, MASSA, spoke on The Collective Bargaining Agreement that highlighted its importance from; Seafarers’ employment and social rights.

The panel speakers delivered a detailed presentation on Work and rest hours, wages, seafarer’s responsibility, Gender discrimination etc.

Capt Sankalp Shukla

Speaking of gender discrimination, India’s Marine Pilot Ms Reshma Nilofer said, “We women in maritime are busting the myth though it is not bed of roses for women in the industry. We need equal opportunity to prove ourselves. We need more mentoring. Please do away with your biases and prejudices.”

Capt Y Sharma started with the quote saying, ‘seafarers are our assets,’ and continued with how seafarers treated in corporate world.

Capt Sudhir Subhedhar 24 | Maritime Matrix Today | July 2021

Giving government perspective Capt BB Sinha, Advisor, The Great Eastern Shipping, said, “We

must understand that, whenever we frame rules, it has to be in context with national legislature.” He mentioned that, Indian Seafarers have been looked after well by enacting various legislations by the Government of India. Capt Sinha also highlighted various schemes available for seafarers.

Capt Sanjeev Verma, Managing Director, Landbridge Ship management Hong Kong Limited raised several questions to the panelist.

Capt Ramesh Ramakrishnan, Chairman, Transworld Group, Mr Manoj Yadav, General Secretary, FSUI and Dr Sanjay Bhavnani, Director & Chief Operating Officer highlighted the achievements and what needs to be done more.

Capt Mahesh Yadav, Director (Training) FOSMA a veteran in training explained the amendments in MLC. During this pandemic, the unions and associations worked hand in hand to get seafarers vaccinated.

Capt Sanjay Prashar, Managing Director, VR Maritime Services Private Limited appreciated unions and associations for carrying out vaccination drives even in remote areas. As per the data available most of the companies have done 90% of the first dose and 57% of the second dose.

Seafarers have been changed to assets to the shipping industry this change came out because of the responsible unions. India has done a considerable job over a decade, MLC came later.

“We are not living in an idle world many things were achieved by active participation of maritime administration. We do accept, there is room for improvement, but we have achieved what most of the countries could not achieve,” said Mr Abdulgani Serang, General Secretary - cum – Treasurer, NUSI. Supporting the above statement Capt Sankalp Shukla, Managing Director, BSM, opined, “India stands as a role model today for the way we acted last year for crew change. This year we started the vaccination drive and we have done a splendid job in this. We may be lacking in few places, but what we have achieved is something we need to proud of.” Capt Shukla also brought out a fact that the HK Flag admin and unions may be holding about US$ 80 million collected from various ship owners over a period of time, towards welfare levies, and a sizeable amount may belong to Indian who had worked on board HK ships. He questioned as to whether ant claim is being laid.

Capt Venkat Iyer stated that the Maritime Administration had completely forgotten the mandate under the MS Act 1958 Sec 218 regarding the welfare measures promised in the act some 63 years ago. He also said that the administration had only ensured that the owners and RPSL are audited for compliance and the Administration which is obliged under Sec 218 has not subjected itself to any audit.

Capt Iyer further suggested that the Ministry must open the access to Port trust hospitals to the seafarers and their families 24x7 cash less basis.

Capt Subash Kumar ex Pilot and Port C’man added that he had tried to help sailors through Port Trust hospitals. Where such ministry controlled hospitals are not there the seafarers must be allowed to use state run ESI hospitals and make available referral facilities free of cost. The administration must build and create dedicated hospital and medical facilities to the seafarers and their families. Retired seafarers must also be included in the system for benefits.

The Government must create facilities similar to CGHS (Central Government Employees Health Scheme) and or ECHS (Ex Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme) for total coverage of the seafarers and their families on a permanent basis. Companies must be encouraged in association with Seafarers welfare fund to obtain additional medical cover under group medical policies.

Though a lot needs to be achieved in regards to betterment of seafarers, India has again proven to be the role model for the world by helping the seafarers in need during 15 months of pandemic.

Mr Sanjay Bhavnani summed up the seminar and Capt Kamal Chadda handled the Q&A session.

The webinar came to end with Capt Venkat Iyer thanking the speakers for sharing their thoughts.

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Maritime Matrix Today | July 2021 | 25

NYPE Performance Claims: Proving Breach and Quantifying Loss

T

he speed-consumption claims under NYPE 1946 form can be a tricky one. It is a warranty of the vessel’s ‘capability’ at the time of

delivery and not a continuing one. At the same time, there is an obligation on the owner to maintain the vessel and on the master to prosecute with utmost dispatch. The standard warranty is usually modified.

The standard warranty is on fully laden basis, but usually parties add ballast basis. The words ‘fully laden’ may be modified to ‘laden’, as seldom a vessel is fully laden. Usually, rider clause 29 (Vessel’s Description) is added, frequently pulled from Baltic Questionnaire, which will set out the warranty in more detail.

26 | Maritime Matrix Today | July 2021

The standard warranty comes with double ‘about’, attached to the speed and consumption, which usually means an allowance of one half knot reduction in speed and five percent increase in consumption. The warranty is about the vessel’s capability in times of ‘good weather’. Usually, parties define ‘good weather’ as code 4 (or less) in Beaufort wind force scale and code 3 (or less) in Douglas sea state scale, and no swell or adverse current.

Proving Breach and Quantifying Loss First, the charterer must prove the vessel was less capable than warranted at the time of delivery.

Typically, the charterer will rely on the vessel’s performance during service to prove the capability at the time of delivery.

First, the charterer will identify the periods of good weather on sea passages during service.

The periods must be sufficiently long, though they do not have to be one full good weather day, so that they can safely represent the vessel’s performance capability. If the vessel has underperformed during such good weather periods, then a breach is established.

Second, the charterer must quantify the loss. It is impractical to calculate the loss with any precision, but some hypothetical methodology has been accepted.

It essentially assumes that the underperformance established during the good weather periods will be extrapolated to all the sea passages under the charter service.

Suppose that the vessel was warranted capable of a speed of 15 knots on 30 metric tons of IFO (380 CST) per day in good

weather. The vessel performed a total of 50 days of sea passages under the charterparty. Bad weather was experienced on all sea passage days except one day. Now, this one day will be taken to measure the vessel’s performance capability. It is found that on this one day, she achieved only a speed of 14 knots on 31 metric tons of IFO per day.

This means the warranty has been breached, both by underspeed and overconsumption, as the performance on this one day of good weather shows that the vessel was indeed capable only of this performance when she was delivered.

It does not matter that the assumption of good weather both on the warranted performance calculation and the actual performance calculation was not true for most of the voyage.

The vessel in this example would have taken, in actual fact, more time and consumed more fuel than even the actual performance scenario used in the above calculation. That does not matter. This methodology will give the probable loss and, though hypothetical, has been accepted.

Suppose that the vessel achieved a lower speed at lower consumption. Then there is a loss to the charterer by the lower speed and a gain to the charterer by the lower consumption. The gain must be offset against the loss in the charterer’s claim.

There is no offset if the claim could fit within the off-hire clause, which is seldom the case.

vessel’s capability on delivery.

A sample period will be more easily representative of the vessel’s capability on delivery in short trip charterers than in long charters. Similarly, a sample taken after the bottom was fouled during service is no good representative.

If bad weather is encountered throughout the service, the warranty is still applicable, and the hypothetical question then arising is what the vessel would have achieved had the weather been good. This can be impractical to assess, and it can be fatal to an underperformance claim in short trip charters. The charterer may resort to proving the vessel’s capability by the experience in previous charter.

However, the previous data will not be easily available to the subject charterer.

On the second stage, there may be periods of sea passages where the weather is extreme, hence the vessel can only go at low speed irrespective of her capability. Such periods must be excluded from extrapolation.

Dr. Arun Kasi is an advocate and solicitor in Malaysia. He is an arbitrator with the AIAC and THAC panels, and he is a member of LMAA. He accepts appointment as an arbitrator under LMAA terms. For more information, visit https:// arunkasico.com.

MMT (Courtesy: Maritime Executive)

There are some limitations in both stages. On the first stage, the nearer the sample period is to the time of delivery, the better its value as representative of the Maritime Matrix Today | July 2021 | 27

Maintenance Services need practical and reliable safety solution S

ecuring the flow of green energy by safely servicing and maintaining fast growing numbers of wind turbines on land and at sea, is no small challenge. Part of that challenge is to optimally protect against electrical shocks and to make turbine activation impossible while maintenance is still ongoing.

The company needed a practical and reliable safety solution to keep maintenance safety at the highest levels.

28 | Maritime Matrix Today | July 2021

Solution: Optimal safety with padlock & key The company’s safety experts were already well informed about Lockout/Tagout, a safety procedure that can temporarily neutralise machines from their energy supply. Because of this, Brady was able to quickly offer dedicated Lockout/Tagout solutions with an optimal fit to our customer’s machines and electrical cabinets based on pictures shared by the customer.

After seeing videos of how to easily implement each Lockout/Tagout solution, our customer decided on Brady’s universal mini circuit breaker lockout device, the compact safety padlock with thin shackle and Brady’s standard safety padlock.

Brady supplied the solutions in practical Lockout/ Tagout bags, 1 per maintenance professional. Each bag includes universal mini circuit breaker lockout devices to easily block circuit breakers in the offposition. Padlocks in the bag can be used to lock the universal mini circuit breaker lockout in place.

They are personalised with an engraving, and keyed alike so that maintenance professionals can open all of their own padlocks with a single key. They are keyed different versus the padlocks in every other bag, so nobody can accidentally remove the padlock of a colleague who might still be servicing the machine. The padlocks are also colour-coded using green for all electrical lockout, and red for mechanical lockout.

involved are finished and removed their personal padlock.

Results: Increased maintenance safety Brady has also supplied its BMP21-PLUS Label Printer with B-427 vinyl labels. Brady’s practical mobile label printer makes cable labelling in the field that much easier and faster. On top of this, Brady also supplied custom signs and tags with advanced outdoors resistance to reliably communicate information and warning messages on outdoor electrical cabinets.

Together with the Lockout/Tagout devices and padlocks, labels, signs and tags provide protection and vital information to maintenance professionals in the field. They are important to avoid electrical shocks and accidental machine activation while maintenance is ongoing.

MMT

The bag also holds a Lockout/Tagout hasp to allow multiple padlocks on a single universal mini circuit breaker lockout device. This will keep a machine neutralised until all maintenance professionals Maritime Matrix Today | July 2021 | 29

Technology for Ammonia Bunkering to be developed

Land-based bunkers for ammonia marine fuel (Azane Fuel Solutions)

W

hile

extensive

infrastructure

required

bunkering

infrastructure

research efforts

to support the maritime

technology, products, and

are

underway

industry’s use of the new

services.

to develop the propulsion

fuels. A new joint venture

systems for ships that will

launching

use alternative fuels, the

according to its founders,

other critical part of the

will the existing gap in the

equation for decarbonization

ammonia fuel value chain by

is

developing ammonia ship

Norwegian technology company ECONNECT Energy and Amon Maritime, which was formed in 2019 to focus on ammonia as a fuel, are launching the new company Azane Fuel Solutions, which will develop flexible ammonia fuel bunkering terminals. The

developing

the

30 | Maritime Matrix Today | July 2021

new

in

Norway,

Ammonia bunkering with a barge alongside (Azane Fuel Solutions) companies believe it will be possible to remove existing barriers for implementing ammonia fuel by developing solutions which will be capable of receiving fuel from ships, trucks, and barges, in refrigerated or pressurised state, and be optimised for ammonia-fuelled ships.

“To enable the maritime green transition, new infrastructure must be established,” says André Risholm, CEO at Amon Maritime. “Azane Fuel Solutions will focus on the bunkering part of the value chain and we see clear synergies with our on-going ammonia-powered ship projects.”

Azane Fuel Solutions’ first project is already underway.

Together with partners spanning the value chain from ammonia production

to consumption of ammonia as fuel on board vessels, the project is seeking to develop and demonstrate an ammonia fuel bunkering network for ships, enabling cost efficient and safe distribution, storage, transfer and utilization of ammonia as a fuel. The project aims to be the first in the world to pilot ammonia bunkering operations, but is seeking financial support from green governmental R&D grants due to the significant R&D challenges, and the pioneering nature of the effort.

Initially, Azane Fuel Solutions see the Northern European market as a likely early adopter of ammonia fuel, however they believe there will be a substantial market potential on a global scale as the larger, international deepsea shipping market adopts the new fuel.

The company is focusing on both a shore-based solution as well as a floating, mobile option.

The shore-based termina they believe will be suited to industrial ports and supply bases, allowing direct ship bunkering alongside the quay, or transfer to a bunkering barge. Larger versions of the system can also function as bunkering storage terminals, serving a fleet of bunkering vessels. The floating option will make it possible to move the bunker station to anchorages and a range of ports, which will be especially important they believe in the early stages of adoption before ports have broadly adopted the alternative fuel options and developed their infrastructure to support ships operating on the new fuels.

MMT

Maritime Matrix Today | July 2021 | 31

Wärtsilä supports renewable energy integration, delivers 100MW of energy storage to Pivot Power

100MW / 200MWh of Wärtsilä energy storage technology across two key sites in the UK will support the integration of renewables onto the UK grid

T

he technology group Wärtsilä will supply 100MW / 200MWh of energy storage systems to Pivot Power, part of EDF Renewables, for its next two projects in the West Midlands, England, to support the roll-out of Pivot Power’s innovative Energy Superhub model. Wärtsilä will install batteries at two sites in the city of Coventry and the borough of Sandwell, on the outskirts of Birmingham. The order was booked

by Wärtsilä in Q2 2021. Construction is due to commence at Sandwell in Q4 2021 and at Coventry in Q1 2022.

32 | Maritime Matrix Today | July 2021

These new systems are a continuation of Wärtsilä’s strong track record of collaboration with Pivot Power. Wärtsilä is already delivering 100MW of energy storage for two Pivot Power projects Energy Superhub Oxford (ESO), where Wärtsilä is providing 50MW of energy storage systems, and a further 50MW in Kemsley, Kent.

The ESO project will include the world’s largest lithium-ion and vanadium-flow hybrid gridscale energy storage system, in partnership with Invinity Energy

Systems. The hybrid battery is supporting the development of a high-powered EV charging network delivering power to key locations across the city, and will share a connection to the high-voltage electricity transmission network.

Energy storage is crucial to meet the UK Government’s new 2035 target to reduce emissions by 78%. To reach this, all electricity production will need to be zero carbon by 2035.

The Energy Superhub projects will help enhance the reliability of the UK’s electricity system and

cost-effectively integrate more renewable generation. The Energy Superhub network could provide up to 10% of the storage capacity the UK is predicted to need by 2050 and will help to create a smarter, more flexible grid, which could save up to GBP 40 billion.

Wärtsilä will supply the cuttingedge energy storage technology for both West Midlands projects, underpinned by its world-leading GEMS Digital Energy Platform, which dynamically optimises energy systems, providing critical feedback to stakeholders across asset owner, operation and trading value chains. These projects with Pivot Power are an important part of Wärtsilä’s ambition to enable a 100% renewable energy system in the UK by providing essential grid flexibility, and builds on the companies’ first two projects together in Oxford and Kent.

Matt Allen, CEO of Pivot Power, said: “This is the next step in

our nationwide rollout of Energy Superhubs which will create the low carbon infrastructure needed to support the EV and renewable energy revolution. As part of EDF Renewables, Pivot Power’s purpose is to accelerate a net zero future where clean energy powers our lives. We are working hand in hand with local authorities to help them meet their climate and clean air pledges, so people can live and work in cleaner, more sustainable cities.”

Andy Tang, Vice President, Energy Storage & Optimisation, Wärtsilä, said: “Flexibility is the key to achieving 100% renewables and decarbonising the economy. Our energy storage systems help leading innovators like Pivot Power turn these ambitions into reality.

The enhanced flexibility this project will provide is precisely what we need to accelerate our cost-optimal pathway to 100% renewable energy. This second partnership project with Pivot Power shows

Wärtsilä’s commitment to helping the UK decarbonise its electricity generation and means we can roll out more energy storage infrastructure to support the UK grid.”

The UK is an optimal market opportunity for energy storage.

Research from Wärtsilä found that income received by energy storage providers in the UK was up by 21% during the first coronavirus lockdown in 2020. The variable market conditions during the lockdown presented an example of what the UK’s energy system could look like as more renewable energy is adopted and supported by energy storage. These findings were uncovered by the Wärtsilä Energy Transition Lab data from 24 March – 23 April 2020.

MMT

Maritime Matrix Today | July 2021 | 33

Diversity in the Indian Maritime Industry: Hiring more women for profitable businesses

A

lthough the maritime and oceans

industry

offers

a

variety of career opportunities

at land and at sea, and despite a dearth of appropriate reports, and statistics about women employment and challenges, there is no doubt that women are underrepresented in the

government to include women employees in every segment of the industry This survey encompassed 205 companies employing over 100,000 people across all verticals[i]. It found that women are underrepresented in the maritime industry in India, particularly in decision-making positions, (Figure 1). Even from the 20% women working within organisations, most of the women were in “supporting positions” rather than key management functions.

Figure 1: Representation of women, as share of the workforce, CEOs, and Board members of maritime companies in 2019

maritime industry in India.

This article summarises findings from surveys, in-depth interviews with CEOs and HR heads from maritime companies and research conducted in India between 2019 and 2020 aimed at understanding better this problematique, with the aim to find possible avenues to overcome it.

Representation of women in shipping: An Indian perspective A first baseline survey was conducted in India in 2019, with the support of the Director General of Shipping, to:

Hurdles in hiring and retaining women in the Indian maritime industry

• Identify challenges of women working onshore and offshore

The 2019 survey suggests that companies are not creating an environment that supports hiring and retaining of women. 90% of the companies stated that they received very poor applications from women during recruitment. In fact, we often hear companies complain that they want to hire women but were not able to find these women. The survey results suggests that companies are not looking hard enough.

• Evaluate the ground reality of gender bias and inequality in the maritime industry • Examine the status of women in the top 3 levels of management in the industry • Make

recommendations

34 | Maritime Matrix Today | July 2021

to

organizations

and

In fact, a lot of companies had an “unwritten” policy not to hire women, especially onboard ships. We found that although maritime training institutions offer a waiver of up to 50% on their fee for female candidates, they were often turned down when they approached companies for placements to complete their sea time. There should be policy measures in place deterring companies that openly discriminate. However, in cases where an “unwritten policy” existed, women’s applications were accepted but their applications were not considered. To curb this, a mandatory course for gender sensitisation / managing unconscious bias was recommended for manning and ship owning companies. However, implementing such initiatives was challenging and received a lukewarm response.

Two additional surveys were conducted to understand the issues faced by women at sea and onshore. These were answered by 781 women working at shore and 112 women working at sea. Findings from these surveys painted the ground realities with 71% women seafarers and 63% women working ashore stating that they had difficulties in finding a job and they did not feel safe nor secure in their working environment. The respondents also revealed reasons that companies cited for rejecting them (Figure 2), which they stated were incorrect.

Figure 2: Reasons cited by companies to reject women’s applications

Table 1: Percentage of companies participating in the 2019 survey with special policies aimed at retaining women in the workforce

Source: Sandvik (2019). Survey on Gender Equality in the Indian Maritime Industry In the absence of support mechanisms and clearly defined goals, it is not surprising that recruitment and retention of women is deemed problematic. The surveys also revealed that all women (at shore and seafarers) believed the following measures should be further incentivized at the Government and employer level to improve working conditions and retention of women in the maritime workforce: flexible working hours; maternity benefits, improving safety and security, regular training programs, stringent action in case of sexual harassment, on-site childcare, and room for wellness.[ii] The need to overcome biases to leverage diversity as a driver for innovation and business

Companies stated that retaining women was also an important hurdle. The reasons for this were made abundantly clear by the fact that, despite 86% of companies reporting they had a Gender Equality policy and 80% stating their jobs were gender-neutral, very few had policies supporting women and their retention.

As shown in Table 1, which summarizes findings from the 2019 survey, not one of the companies offered any on-site childcare, had a special regulatory body, or had defined a share for women in top management recruitment and positions.

The findings of the above report led to the conclusion that our industry lacks inclusivity. What was disturbing though was, at times, employers perceived “women” as being the problem rather than the actual issue on hand.

It is easier to include people who we think would look and think like the majority because creating a culture or environment conducive to diversity would need some changes and efforts on behalf of the management. For instance, costs would go up by offering onsite childcare and other facilities and, in absence of data showing a positive relation between increased diversity, companies do not wish to go the extra mile to set goals. Simply put, with our own internalized biases, we have chosen to go for comfort over inclusivity.

But there is a business case to boost female expertise in the industry. Our in-depth interviews with CEOs and HR heads led to the conclusion that an improved gender balance contributes to more diverse workplaces, with positive effects both internally and externally. Moreover, Maritime Matrix Today | July 2021 | 35

it positively influences the attractiveness of jobs and the competitiveness of the sector.

Most industry stakeholders want a more prosperous industry with higher profits. But there is a contradiction between maritime industry concerns about the lack of talent or labour pool available and having women who want to work, with the right motivation and education that are not given equal opportunities.

Today, we are missing out on 50% of the talent, 50% of the new ideas, 50% of the potential progress this industry could be making. And probably quite a lot of profit too. Not letting women work is a crime against economics and common sense. If we want to make our industry better, we need to let women participate more actively.

Unpacking the linkages between workforce diversity, company performance and work culture While companies look at diversity as a moral issue -the “right thing to do”- they do not always recognise that diversity also makes good business sense. In 2020, we sought to understand the business case for diversity in the Indian maritime Industry and conducted research to understand linkages between workforce diversity, company performance and work culture, covering 104 companies representing over 65,000 employees.

The first challenge was understanding if companies had data that connected diversity to business performance.

We spoke to 5 HR heads and 5 CEOs and experts across all verticals and gathered information on their processes for recruitment, promotions and performance measurement. In most cases we found that companies did not measure this in financial terms or were not able to share hard data (e.g., an increase in women led to an increase in X% sales or profits).

Based on these in-depth interviews with 10 experts we created a questionnaire which companies would answer based on their data without sharing any confidential information about sales or profits. We also interviewed 5 women achievers to understand what set these women’s career paths apart from others -what did these women do differently or what were the conducive environments that made them achieve their positions.

To the question “Has increased gender diversity / participation of women in your organisation helped enhance your business outcomes?” a whopping 67% provided a positive reply. Qualitative individual feedback suggested that there is a wide belief that diversity leads to better business operations. However, we were unable to support this with hard figures given the absence of measurement systems. To get actual figures, companies 36 | Maritime Matrix Today | July 2021

would have to link diversity measures to performance drivers in all parts of the organization and ultimately to organizational overall performance. However, our survey did reveal interesting results: • 45% of the respondents agreed that “By increasing women’s participation in the organisation, there was a greater level of creativity and innovation at work as diverse teams generate more ideas” (Figure 3) • 49% of the respondents believed that “By increasing women’s participation in the organisation, departments have become more cohesive and open” (Figure 3) • 36% of the respondents agreed there is more effective decision-making by increasing women in decision making roles and 49% were neutral (Figure 3) Figure 3 Responses to questions assessing the perception of companies regarding the impact of diversity on selected issues related to company performance and work culture

• 49% of the companies agreed that increasing women’s participation in the organisation led to a positive impact on the company’s image and brand, potentially impacting sales and retention • A substantial proportion of the sample (83%) responded that it was not a challenge for the company to retain women employees. This suggests that the general assumption that organisations are unable to retain women employees due to their perceived inability to balance work and home responsibilities might be false.

Although 37% of the respondents confirmed their company adopted a Diversity and Inclusion Policy: • 19% skipped the question about benefits offered to the women employees (from which we can infer that they do not offer any benefits) • 42% offer maternity benefits for the female employees but only 2% of them said a creche facility was available

• 17% granted flexible working hours • Committees with mandates against sexual harassment were only available in 13% of the respondents’ companies.

It is evident from these survey results that gender issues have been taken seriously by some of the respondents.

Some companies believe in diversity for diversity’s sake and those cynical enough not to certainly pay attention to it, as it improves their bottom-line. The employees and management are aware that business productivity, company image and overall performance are linked to a gender inclusive workplace.

As the quantitative and qualitative evidence grows for a gender inclusive workplace, the next step would be designing a measurement system. It is important to mention that a few companies indicated they had tools in place but did not share them due to company policies. Companies need a measurement system to measure the gender dimension in connection from a performance perspective. Only once measured, companies will understand that diversity improves performance and profits and thus promoting it will be viewed as a key competitive strategy. From a social perspective and from a human resource perspective, a company that devises policies using the tenets of

inclusivity and diversity principles would reap the benefits of goodwill and returns in the market. A strong customer base, dynamic work conditions and optimally managed human resources would undoubtedly make a huge impact. Having women participate in the maritime industry would be beneficial to companies but also to India and will enable us to achieve excellence in the global maritime industry. [i] Shipping lines, Non-Vessel-Owning Common Carriers, Freight forwarding companies, ship owning companies, ship management companies, port companies, custom clearance agencies, warehousing companies and container freight station companies [ii] For example, a space for lactating mothers to express milk or for rest during pregnancy MMT (Courtesy: Unctad.org)

The Author Ms Sanjam Sahi Gupta Director Sitara Shipping Ltd & Founder, Maritime SheEO

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