As part of our On Board With interview series, Kathryn Torney speaks to Madadh MacLaine, Secretary-General of the Zero Emissions Ship Technology Association.
"Innovation is the only way solutions will be found to reduce the serious climate impacts caused by shipping”, according to the head of the Zero Emissions Ship Technology Association (ZESTAs).
Madadh MacLaine was speaking during a recent visit to Artemis Technologies in Belfast where she had a tour of the factory, saw manufacturing in operation and experienced foiling aboard one of the 100% electric Artemis EF-12 Workboats.
ZESTAs’ purpose is to promote rapid and large-scale uptake of zero emissions ship technology. The association represents its members within industry and to regulators.
The shipping industry currently accounts for roughly 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Madadh said:
Shipping is at a turning point where only innovation is going to bring us to the solutions required to reduce or eliminate our negative climate impacts. We cannot continue to apply the same solutions and expect to get a different result.
It is only innovation that’s going to bring us out of this and the important thing to remember is that the technologies required are there. We just need to innovate to bring them together and to the shipping industry. Artemis Technologies has demonstrated this by bringing race technology into commercial shipping. This new approach is key to addressing the negative impacts.
She continued:
We have the technology to achieve absolute zero emissions in shipping but what is required is looking at vessels in a whole different way and redesigning them. We need to design vessels for efficiency first. I am hopeful that with collaboration and by expanding innovations and increasing the economies of scale we eventually can bring the entire industry to absolute zero emission.
Madadh described her experience on Artemis Technologies’ electric foiling workboat as “astonishing”.
The vessel is nearly silent, there’s very little movement and it banks on a dime, very, very smoothly. It’s an extremely quiet and gentle ride. I was absolutely astonished at the ease with which this vessel lifted out of the water.
I was also impressed by how quiet the propeller is. This reduces the underwater radiated noise which inevitably has impacts on ocean health and ocean mammals. This is something that is so important and I think not being taken into consideration when we think of our climate impacts.
In the British Isles, we are an island surrounded by islands and have a requirement for a massive amount of ferry vessels.
A vessel like this can bring someone very safely and gently and comfortably from their island home to the shops or to a hospital for example. I really fundamentally believe that Artemis Technologies is a game changer for ferry systems here in the United Kingdom and also globally when we look at island populations around the world.
ZESTAs’ mission to create a collaborative platform for zero emission shipping providers fits with the partnership working approach which is core to the work of Artemis Technologies.
Gail Cook, Director of Marketing at Artemis Technologies, added:
Our mission to decarbonise the maritime industry cannot be achieved alone. We are proud to work closely with governments, industry, academia and forward-thinking organisations like ZESTAs globally to speed up the transition to a greener, cleaner maritime sector. Tried and tested technological advancements like our EF-12 Workboats are already proving significant savings in CO2 emissions and we are proud to be leading the transition to a decarbonised maritime sector.
