Interferry 2021 arrives in Santander

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Interferry 2021 arrives in Santander, after being postponed due to the pandemic. This year, Interferry 2021 celebrates its 45th anniversary in Santander, the home port that serves Brittany Ferries and this year will host Interferry, to take the maritime industry into the future.

“It has never been more important for the entire ferry industry to come together to defend their collective interests, and we are delighted that the board of directors has chosen our candidacy to host the conference this year,” says Brittany Ferries CEO Christophe Mathieu.

Under the slogan “the future is the ferries” the fair is held, which will last from tomorrow, October 2 to October 6, in Santander.

A place that will host at least 300 participants, to carry out the oldest fair in the maritime sector.

Among the points to be celebrated at Interferry 2021, the different visuals regarding topics of interest such as climate change, the crisis of the pandemic stand out.

In addition to the possible solutions for the reduction of GHG, new technologies in the ship and coast design, security systems, and supply logistics, among other challenges.

Brittany Ferries has served Santander since 1978 and has a route that covers: France, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern Spain.

“It is an honor for Brittany Ferries that the InterFerry Conference is held in Santander. As organizers of the 45th Interferry Conference, and after more than 40 years operating in Santander, we are proud that the convention headquarters is in our home port, where senior representatives of the ferry sector will discuss new ideas, markets, strategies, and technologies,” says Roberto Castilla, director of Brittany Ferries in Spain.

Undoubtedly, the Interferry is one of the most anticipated fairs during the year and without a doubt, this meeting is expected to establish connections and initiatives to sustainably improve maritime transport technology.

See the full note at Actualidad marítima y portuaria.

The first autonomous ships are ready to set sail

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After many tests of autonomous navigation, the first ships without crew members are ready to set sail and begin to serve next October.

This type of autonomous vessel has been developed mainly for the transport of river, and coastal cargo and according to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) it has been working continuously since 2017 to guarantee that this type of vessel has a safe operation. Through constant evaluation of the various electronic devices that make autonomy a reality, such as in the implementation of international regulations, autonomous ships are a reality that is not only limited to their innovation since ports must also be prepared to meet this type of boat.

At the moment, the pioneering countries in this matter are China, Norway, and Japan, focusing their development on autonomous maritime surface ships (MASS), considering that an autonomous ship is a ship that can navigate without depending on human interaction. However, there are 4 types of autonomy for these boats: The first refers to those that have a crew, but their navigation system has automated processes that help in decision-making. Second, are ships that have seafarers on board, but the vessel is remotely controlled. Third, are those ships that are remotely controlled and have no crew on board. While the last type of ship is those 100% autonomous, capable of making decisions and determining actions by itself.

Whatever the degree of autonomy of these vessels, they must all be equipped to a lesser or greater extent with various technological tools such as: the internet, GPS, big data, artificial intelligence, IOT, sensors, robotics, and different software and hardware that will not only allow the navigation but its constant development.

It should be noted that this type of innovation will have a direct impact on the workforce of seafarers since although the ships will not have a crew on board, this type of development will always generate new jobs, only that they will be different, they will imply less physical strength and greater technological skills, but we will see the direction it takes as these changes become irreversible.

 

Maersk to invest in a greener fleet

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Danish container shipping company Maersk will invest approximately $1.4 billion in a greener fleet. There will be eight new vessels, which will be powered by cleanly manufactured methanol rather than petroleum-based fuel, generating annual savings in carbon dioxide emissions of around 1 million tons.

The ships will be assembled by Hyundai Heavy Industries and will be available in mid-2024. They are designed with a dual-fuel engine configuration that will operate on methanol as well as conventional low-sulfur fuel and will have a capacity of approximately 16,000 containers.

“The time to act is now if we want to solve the climate challenge of shipping. This order demonstrates that carbon-neutral solutions are available today in all container ship segments. Furthermore, this is a strong signal for producers. Demand for the green fuels of the future is emerging rapidly” said Soren Skou, CEO of Maersk.

Ecological standards

Maritime transport represents 3% of carbon dioxide emissions of human origin, according to data from the International Maritime Organization. As a result, certain IMO regulations came into force to curb air pollution by limiting the sulfur content of marine fuel.

 

Read the full note on RT.

The Panama Canal turns 107 years old

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The Panama Canal turns 107 years old. This route is the commercial transit road through which more than 1.1 million vessels have passed that worldwide has served as a transit before making landfall at their destination.

Last August 15 was the 107th birthday of the Panama Canal, which since 1914 has served as a port transit for ships. It is a recognized route because it helps reduce distances, costs, and time in the transportation of goods.

At the same time, the Panama Canal has been a response to the economic empowerment of Panama, being a sustainable organization in the face of current conditions.

The environmentally friendly Panama Canal…

“The world is demanding that companies offer services and products that have a low carbon footprint, so we are going to make investments to adapt to that reality, in line with our environmental tradition,” says Ricaurte Vásquez Morales, administrator of the Panama Canal

In 2030 it is expected to be a carbon-neutral organization, strengthening its commitment to the environment.

At the same time, the organization ensures that the route has helped to minimize CO2  by more than 830 million tons. This is because ships save fuel by passing through a shorter route and moving a greater amount of cargo volume.

 Without a doubt, its large-scale growth has managed to last over time and promises to continue to be a profitable and sustainable route for the millions of ships that transit the sea.

Read the complete note in Mundo Marítimo.

Spain seeks to become a leader in maritime transport in Europe

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Spain seeks to implement a wide variety of technological tools to boost competitiveness in the Spanish port system, and thus become the leader in maritime transport within Europe.

In the report published by the Ports Commission of the Chamber of Spain, entitled “Measures to promote the competitiveness of the Spanish port system”, all the measures to be implemented are detailed and are grouped into 5 categories such as: governance, management of border control ports, intermodality, digitization, and training, which will be renewed thanks to technological advances.

Among the technologies that they will implement at the port, digitization level is 5G sensorization, automation, artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, IoT, and distributed ledger technology such as Blockchain.

The purpose of these measures is to take advantage of an industry that is underdeveloped in terms of innovation and digitization and thus transform Spanish ports into a 4.0 model, which are intelligent, interoperable, and transparent.

There are currently 3 Spanish ports (Valencia, Algeciras, and Barcelona) that are in the top 30 of the world ranking of ports thanks to the influx of merchandise, so this type of measure seeks to promote logistics and port development, which will help Spain to become a leader in the maritime sector in Europe.