The Green Ship of the Future, the Danish maritime initiative, has received the International Environmental Award from the Sustainable Shipping organisation for being the most environmentally friendly shipping initiative. Sustainable Shipping is a leading organisation dedicated to promoting sustainable use of the sea.
Among the judges was Dr. Simon Walmsley of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF): “If we are to ensure the survival of our world then we must change the way we behave. No industry can resist making these changes. The industries that accept this challenge, and see that the climate threat offers them opportunities to modernize the way they run their businesses, will prosper.”
Reductions of emissions
The A.P. Moller – Maersk Group (APMM), Odense Steel Shipyard (OS), MAN Diesel (MD) and Aalborg Industries (AI), established the Green Ship of the Future project in 2008 with the primary objective of demonstrating and developing new, green technologies to achieve significant reductions of emissions. Today, the project has 15 partners including shipping companies, their suppliers, and several Danish universities including the Technical University of Denmark.
The challenge and objective of Green Ship of the Future is to cut industrial CO2-emissions by 3 per cent and oxides of nitrogen and sulphur by 90 per cent. The initiative uses existing and new technologies.
Equal minds
Thomas S. Knudsen, Head of the MAN Diesel Low Speed Business Unit said: “Shipping is an environmentally friendly form of transport, but with Green Ship of the Future we are making an extra effort to protect the Earth’s climate and environment. We want to play our part in designing environmentally responsible products that minimise emissions. In that respect, the Green Ship of the Future project is a meeting of equal minds.”
