V.Group joins Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center to greenify shipping

UK-based ship management company V.Group has entered into a strategic partnership with Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping and launched a dedicated ‘Sustainability & Decarbonization’ department.

Established in 2020 as an independent, not-for-profit organisation, the center is undertaking intensive research and development to find practical ways to decarbonise the maritime industry through several global initiatives.

As a partner, V.Group intends to support its customers in the use of transition fuels, including green ammonia and hydrogen, in anticipation of a stricter regulatory climate.

The ship manager will make several of its marine specialists available to the Center in Copenhagen to provide insights about the operational practicality of proposed initiatives in a live setting.

“We firmly believe that by pooling our resources, the maritime sector could play an exemplary role in bringing about fundamental change to protecting our planet,” René Kofod-Olsen, CEO at V.Group, commented.

“By establishing a dedicated function and joining forces with the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping, we are demonstrating our commitment to driving this change in a very real and practical way.”

“By supporting the use of pioneering new fuels, new technologies and digital practices, V.Group aims to remove barriers, close gaps and find solutions, and will thereby assist our customers and the industry towards lower carbon emissions.”

“We are committed to ensuring that operating procedures, safety management and crew training are kept in step with innovation. Crew, for instance, will have to know how to handle, store and manage new fuels and operate technically advanced propulsion and power generation equipment. In the coming years, the entire seafaring community will need to be trained or retrained to adapt to this new low carbon world.”

“Environmental credentials will soon become as important a consideration for vessel owners as health and safety, so it is imperative ship managers take the initiative,” Kofod-Olsen concluded.

“We are delighted to be joining forces with V.Group. Decarbonizing the maritime industry by 2050 calls for action now and together we will support the first movers that lead the way and demonstrate real climate action,” Bo Cerup-Simonsen, CEO of the center, said.

“This transformation is about much more than maturing new fuel pathways and developing new technologies. It is a systemic change to an entire business system and the implementation of the new solutions will impose significant challenges across all parts of the value chain.”

“Connecting the human element and best practises of safety management to the hard engineering will be critical for a successful industrial transition. V.Group will contribute with significant knowledge and expertise in this field.”

The shipping sector accounts for three per cent of international CO2 emissions and has launched numerous initiatives to reduce emissions by 2050.

One of these initiatives is the COP26 Clydebank Declaration for Clean Shipping signed by nineteen countries at the COP26 event in Glasgow last week. The nineteen countries pledged to create green shipping corridors or zero-emission maritime routes between two or more ports in an effort to help the sector decarbonize.