Health, Safety and Environment

It's a growing need to analyse the GHG emissions and analyse and detect the current possible harm that maritime industry needs to cut back on. International shipping is a large and growing source of greenhouse gas emissions. Maritime transport emits around 940 million tonnes of CO2 annually and is responsible for about 2.5% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions The need to move towards a more sustainable future is growing crucial day by day. It has become imminent for the maritime industry to move towards an environmentally friendly path for the growth of the industry and betterment and safety of this planet and us human beings.

Outcomes of the Session - An overview

Policies in India

There is no shortage of plans even in India - The maritime vision 2030 (MIV 2030), The national action plan, and there have been eight key interventions, and twenty-one green initiatives which have been identified to support the national action plan and the commitments which have been made at COP26.

Data Analysis

ln the context of Indian ports, there are hardly any research attempts made on emission assessment and development of methodology to assess and manage the inventory of ship emissions. Basic steps to begin with, such as emissions data collections from the vessels directly, AIS reports, engines operating parameters and daily logbook noon report.

Achieving the Goals

Working across borders and trying to treat this as a global village problem rather than a regional or local problem can expedite efforts to achieve the goals because there is a lot of very good research work being done, availability of the emissions data inventory, the emission assessment methodologies and the algorithms which have already been developed.

Emissions Inventory

A reliable and up-to-date ship emission inventory is essential for getting overview of the trends and challenges, and for assessing the effect of different emission control options. It is therefore recommended to establish an environmental accounting model for continuous monitoring of ship traffic, air emissions and impacts in the region.

Development Prospects

The below development prospects are as a result of the IMRC 2022 symposium sessions and protected by the IMRC team. If you are a researcher who wishes to pursue any project as part of your graduate thesis, undergraduate thesis, PhD, or profession, you can apply with IMRC to do the same.

To apply, email us your name, email ID, institute name, background, purpose, contact number along with a one-page synopsis on your project of choice. IMRC will vet all applications. Selected candidates will commence the project with full support of IMRC, registered ISSN publications and IMRC's industry partners.

Development of Port Emissions Inventory for Advanced Analytics and Efficiency Management

There is a limited number of studies on global shipping emissions which contain estimations on the in-port emissions, which is ship emissions on ports. Ports represent a source of atmospheric pollutants that can contribute significantly to jeopardize air quality of port cities. NOx, SOx, PM, and VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) are emitted by ships during maneuvering in ports at arrival or departure and during hoteling when moored at wharves. Several methods exist to estimate emissions in function of ships' activity and engine parameters. However, there is still a significant uncertainty in these calculations. This is a severe limitation to develop effective plans of mitigation of air pollution in port cities. A reliable and up-to-date ship emission inventory is essential for getting overview of the trends and challenges, and for assessing the effect of different emission control options. It is therefore recommended to establish an environmental accounting model for continuous monitoring of ship traffic, air emissions and impacts in the region. The model could provide stakeholders with updated status for the most important air emission components, both local pollutants and GHG emissions. Furthermore, it is recommended that the Drone sampling of exhaust gases from ships and AIS-based emission inventory is further detailed to categorize emissions as domestic, international or transit. This could help guide port facilities administration, coastal administration authorities in making targeted policy choices to fulfill national obligations relating to domestic emissions.

We are looking to partner with Ports and Academicians to carry forward this project under the guidance of our team and Committee member -Dr Jai Acharya. Email us to register your interest.

Feasibility Study to chart way towards Economic and Environmental Sustainability

One of the common issues and problems discussed during the session was that how operators find it difficult to make 'Green and sustainable' decisions as there does not exist any known advantage. In many countries some operators are incentivized for sustainable decisions; but experts do not consider incentivization programs to be long-lasting. IMRC realizes that a long-term and beneficial structure that provides economic advantages for green and environmentally conscious decisions must be developed.

This project aims to study past practices, current scenario and why organizations are unable to turn green. The project will help draw up a feasibility study and find ways to match economic sustainability to environmental sustainability. It will also highlight sectors, areas, policies that will require change going forward.

The IMRC session mainly discussed operators on port (such as tug operators); however researchers can pick any sector/industry of their choice to base their study on.

To partner with us or to apply for this research study, email us at imrc@isfgroup.in.