The Singapore-based Global Center for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) and the International Association of Ports and Harbours (IAPH) have decided to enter into a two-year coalition partnership agreement to accelerate decarbonization efforts of the maritime sector, particularly across ports.
The two organizations inked the agreement against the backdrop of a maritime-related event held in the city of Kobe, Japan.
As explained, the collaboration will aim to combine GCMD’s knowledge in closing operational, safety and technical gaps across the maritime transport value chain with IAPK’s clean marine fuels and port readiness working groups, as part of the entity’s worldwide port network that is said to encompass more than 200 port authorities and operators.
Officials from GCMD have further noted that, together, the two organizations will endeavor to ‘bolster’ the maritime industry’s preparedness for shipping’s fuel transition by addressing challenges and examining opportunities in advancing alternative fuels bunkering, developing port infrastructure and helping shape regulatory frameworks.
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As disclosed, this new development builds on a history of collaboration between GCMD and IAPH, with the former company acting as a supporting partner in the Clean Energy Marine Hubs (CEM-HUBS) initiative, of which IAPH is a founding member. CEM-HUBS is a cross-sector public-private platform led by a task force of maritime stakeholders as well as energy ministers under the banner of the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM).
CEM-HUBS represents an effort to unify players across the energy and transport ministries, aiming to de-risk opportunities for transporting and using low-carbon fuels in shipping. GCMD has been part of this project since 2023.
Via its Clean Marine Fuels Working Group, IAPH has reportedly created a set of tools for ports and maritime transport companies that are described as being able to facilitate ‘safe’ bunker operations for existing and upcoming clean marine fuels.
As part of the recent partnership, GCMD and IAPH said they would work on improving GCMD’s own set of tools and co-creating new ones to help ports, shipowners and operators in adopting new bunkering fuels and transporting low- and zero-carbon fuels as cargo.
What is more, it is worth noting that GCMD has been conducting pilots across the value chain, co-developing risk-mitigation strategies for deploying new fuels and setting up operating procedures for activities, like safe ammonia bunkering and liquid carbon dioxide (LCO2) offloading.
As elaborated, GCMD will seek to close knowledge gaps and create globally applicable practices by tailoring the findings to port-specific conditions.
“In nearly all of GCMD’s pilots, ports have been pivotal to our success—whether in enabling the world’s first ship-to-ship ammonia transfer at the Pilbara, bunkering across six biofuel supply chains in Singapore or the Port of Rotterdam, or demonstrating the full value chain for onboard captured CO2 in China,” commented Lynn Loo, CEO of GCMD.
Loo concluded that she hoped the work with IAPH would pave the way for turning pilot learnings into “scalable operations essential for the energy transition.”
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