Germany accelerates climate-friendly shipping game

October 10, 2024, by Naida Hakirevic Prevljak

Germany’s government has unveiled the National Action Plan for Climate-Friendly Shipping to boost investments centered around maritime energy transition for the German industry.

As a federal government initiative, the action plan has been developed under the leadership of the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK).

Representatives of the shipping industry, maritime industry and science, energy suppliers, industry and environmental associations, the finance sector as well as public administration on both federal and state levels have worked together in developing the strategy.

On October 8, 2024, Germany’s maritime community met in Hamburg: the federally-owned company NOW GmbH – once again together with the Maritime Platform – invited participants to the Zero Emission Shipping Symposium for the sixth time. The focus was on environmentally and climate-friendly alternatives to conventional ship propulsion systems and fuels, as well as on green shipping corridors.

The symposium was opened by Susanne Henckel, State Secretary at BMDV and Dieter Janecek, Federal Government Coordinator for the Maritime Industry and Tourism at BMWK. In their welcoming addresses, both emphasized the federal government’s support for climate-friendly shipping and then discussed the topic with representatives of the maritime industry on the panel entitled ‘Together on the path to the maritime energy transition’.

“In July 2023, we reached an international consensus with the IMO member states to successively work towards achieving climate-neutral ocean shipping by 2050. For this purpose, we are launching the German government’s National Action Plan for Climate-Friendly Shipping. Together with the shipping industry, we are developing tailored solutions for the specific challenges of the maritime sector,” Henckel said.

“The exchange of know-how and experience is crucial to our joint efforts to test, improve and continuously develop many new ideas in the years ahead. Events such as today’s Zero Emission Shipping Symposium help us to showcase good ideas, to present important projects and initiatives, such as the Green Shipping Corridors, as well as to network and jointly exploit the opportunities of the maritime energy transition for the German shipping industry.”

“The shipbuilding and supply industry is a model of success for the German economy: it is a technology leader in many areas, characterised by medium-sized companies and export-oriented. Only by working together will we achieve the ambitious climate protection goals for shipping at the national, European and international level,” Janecek pointed out.

“At the same time, we are seeking to boost the maritime industry’s innovative and value-adding potential and to make it clear that climate protection and industry, transformation and competitiveness go hand in hand.”

“The shipping industry has set out on the path to climate neutrality. It is investing and making every effort to achieve the ambitious climate targets of the EU and the IMO. However, this can only succeed if sufficient quantities of green molecules are available in the tanks within a foreseeable time frame. Starting with more biofuels, synthetic green fuels will then be needed in considerable quantities. This requires strong stimuli and major support from policymakers. Only if a market ramp-up is generated through massive investments can the maritime energy transition succeed. The industry will not be able to accomplish this feat alone,” Georg Ehrmann, Managing Director of the Maritime Platform, commented.

A broad spectrum of technologies for climate-neutral shipping

At this year’s Zero Emission Shipping Symposium, the progress of selected funding projects was presented with a focus on climate protection technologies in the field of alternative ship propulsion systems and fuels.

The presentations highlighted the broad range of technological solutions on the road to zero-emission shipping that are being supported by the funding programmes of the BMDV and the BMWK.

Furthermore, project initiatives and concepts for green shipping corridors as floating real-world laboratories on initial model routes for climate-neutral shipping were presented.

Green shipping corridors are a key area of action in the National Action Plan for Climate-Friendly Shipping (NAPS), which has been developed since May 2024 with the participation of a wide range of maritime stakeholders and is intended to serve as a roadmap for climate-neutral shipping in Germany.

The green corridors refer to international model routes on which the use of climate-neutral technologies is being tested for the first time. As part of the NAPS development process, NOW GmbH is monitoring the various project initiatives on behalf of the BMDV in order to identify implementation measures for the NAPS from these and to support them in their planning and implementation.

The BMDV and the BMWK are already supporting shipping on its way to the net-zero emissions target with various funding programs:

With the funding programs for the sustainable modernization of coastal and inland waterway vessels, the BMDV is supporting cross-technology investments in fleet modernization in both of the two shipping markets, thereby contributing to air pollution control and climate protection.
Complementing this, the BMDV supports the use of innovative technologies for environmentally friendly on-board power and mobile shore-side power supply for seagoing and inland waterway vessels through the BordstromTech funding program.
Via the National Innovation Programme Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology (NIP), the BMDV specifically supports the development and demonstration of fuel cells – both for use in inland and seagoing shipping.
The BMWK’s Maritime Research Programme supports research, development and demonstration of climate protection technologies for shipping in the “zeroGHG – Klimaneutrales Schiff” (climate-neutral ship) funding priority.