Whilst the adoption of more sustainable practices represents a significant opportunity for the maritime industry, it’s often resisted by shipping companies because of the many challenges presented by going green.

Moving to a sustainable agenda is not a quick or simple process and often requires substantial financial investment and changes to established operating practices. For these reasons some shipping companies can be understandably reluctant to commit to sustainable initiatives.

However, it’s not necessarily the case that improved sustainability means increased costs, and in fact, having a greener agenda very often results in increased profits over time. Indeed, there may well be heavier costs to bear in the long term if a company does not start to move towards a greener agenda now.

What’s the financial cost of going green?

Whilst the idea that going green is expensive does have some truth to it (for example there are lots of eco-friendly products that are a little bit more expensive than the regular ones), when it comes to sustainability, the long term benefits always outweigh the short-term costs.

It’s also important to note that quite often green solutions do work out cheaper than regular alternatives, especially when considered over the lifetime of the business. David Evans, Founder at Matilda’s Planet, believes that making a profit and being green are not mutually exclusive and that it is possible to achieve both.

Reduce Emissions

According to a report for the UK’s Department for Transport in 2019, ‘some measures to reduce emissions also have the effect of reducing the operating cost of a ship’. These are predominantly energy efficiency and slow steaming options.

Using Renewable Energy

As world trade grows, more and more energy is required to power the increasing numbers of vessels on the sea. If ships were designed more efficiently and harnessed wind or solar power, some of this energy use could be reduced, but ultimately if shipping is going to fully decarbonise, it needs to find a replacement for fossil fuels.

Various alternatives to fossil fuels are available, with synthetic fuels like hydrogen, ammonia and ethanol being the most common. Synthetic fuels can be made using clean electricity and burned without emitting greenhouse gases so they are much better for the environment, and more sustainable. However there is a short term cost to moving away from the use of fossil fuels as the vessel’s oil-burning fuel system needs to be replaced with a new system, requiring a huge initial financial outlay.

Reducing The Use Of Plastics

Plastic waste is everywhere and seeing plastic bottles on beaches has become normal. It’s not all the fault of the maritime sector of course, and as John Barnacle-Bowd states, the prevalence of plastic waste on beaches is really a result of the poor, and often harmful, waste practices that we’ve got in place globally19. However, the maritime sector does contribute significantly to the problem and reducing the industry’s reliance upon plastics is key to making the sector more sustainable as a whole.

The good news is that when processes are rethought, plastics can often be removed altogether, which is in itself a cost saving. It’s also often the case that plastics can be reused at little or no cost20 and we’re starting to see a reduction in the use of single-use plastics as a result.

Sustainable Waste Management

It’s been estimated that in the most polluted areas of the sea, around 300,000 items of debris can be found in each square kilometre. Unsurprisingly, concern is growing about the damage that marine waste is having on the environment and a number of legislative and voluntary mechanisms have been devised to improve the current waste disposal practices of the shipping industry.

Navigating Climate Change With RS

RS is proud of the work that we’re already doing to tackle climate change and drive sustainability within the maritime industry. Our 85 year history as a global supplier to the industry means that we’re well placed to respond to changes within the sector.

The products that we supply are sustainable in themselves as we source the best quality products which means that buyers don’t need to keep replacing broken parts or having additional products shipped to them when they break. This reduces shipping costs too and means that we don’t need to use unnecessary resources, like fuel for example, because we don’t have to keep replacing stock.