Innovation and environmental sustainability are introducing new standards and challenges in sea transport with:
- opportunity offered by new technology,
- organization improvements by exchanging information,
- social, cultural and economic benefits arising from respect for the environment and programming services.
Innovation directly involves us and forces us to improve production processes so that we and our clients are more competitive and profitable.
The transport industry has always been distinguished by the evolution of its infrastructural technology. Today telecommunication networks enable us to optimize, coordinate and monitor transport and flows of freight.
In 2014 our “seek to improve” philosophy led us to look for ways to cut down emissions of SOx outside the Emission Control Area. We watched the development of scrubbers before coming to the conclusion that they would reduce SOx and to a lesser extent NOx but increase power requirements plus the discharge at sea of cleansing water and exhaust gases.
We turned to weather routing services to optimize routing in order to save fuel and therefore emissions.
We concluded that the best solution was making the best use of engines in all working conditions. In 2015 we began testing a system which manages all the navigation parameters using precision electronic instruments such as torsion and flow meters. The data is analyzed by computer and transmitted to our Rome office where we can check the emissions and compare with the planned levels. We are installing this system on all our vessels with control panels on board and in the office. Results to date show a 5% fuel consumption saving and NOx and COx down by between 3% and 5%. The system is in accordance with EU regulation 2015/757 on the monitoring, reporting and verifying of emissions from ships under system MRV.
We are now organizing a monitoring plan for each vessel to be presented to the authorities before August 31, 2017 and we are using the system so that when the regulation comes into effect on January 1, 2018 we will already have data prepared.
Today sea transport accounts for 1,000 million tons of CO2 that is 2,5% of world emissions (3rd IMO GHG Study 2014). The Pietro Barbaro Group considers sustainability and innovation of great importance not only by using the latest technology but above all by changing the way we do business at all levels.
article originally published by PORTO&diporto