Brian Ladin Discusses How Vessel Air Emissions are Being Reduced to Help the Environment
Brian Ladin on How Vessel Air Emissions are Being Reduced to Help the Environment
Brian Ladin is well aware of the environmental impact that his industry has on the world. As the founder and CEO of Delos Shipping, he knows that many CO2 emissions come from his ships, and he has pledged to do something about it. A variety of beneficial steps could help minimize this problem as much as possible to keep the environment safe.
How Brian Ladin Hopes to Help Cut Back on Air Emissions
Every year, vessel emissions contribute around 3% of global CO2 production. As someone focused heavily on helping the world become a better place, Brian Ladin is disturbed by this information. However, the world relies so much on maritime shipping. Without it, the modern economy would grind to a halt, and billions would suffer. So, what can be done to help out here?
Plenty, thankfully, and many businesses like Ladin’s are already taking steps. For example, the concept of anti-fouling vessel coatings has become very popular in recent years. These coatings eliminate the layer of live organisms that often make their home on ship surfaces and propellors. The goal of this step is to decrease their drag on a ship and improve its efficiency. Amazingly, this step could cut back on 38% of a ship’s emissions on its own.
Many companies are already taking this step, which Brian Ladin says is an excellent first option. However, it is far from the only thing that shipping companies should be doing to help. Ladin strongly suggests switching to a low-sulfur fuel option, which uses 0.5% instead of 3.5% of sulfur. This step is vital because this chemical contributes heavily to carbon emissions. And these fuels are also more efficient, though their cost is a little higher, which has limited their use internationally.
Enhanced design efficiency is also essential. By streamlining ship-shape and cutting back on overall size, it could cut fuel consumption by 15%. This step wouldn’t affect the shipping capacity of a vessel. Instead, it would merely trim down unnecessary and inessential areas to help make its movement through water simpler and more effective.
This step would be the most costly as it would require a redesign and replacement of thousands of ships. As a result, many companies are likely to balk at this option and try to find others that are less demanding on their finances. For instance, Brian Ladin has suggested that slow steaming, a new movement within the shipping field, could hugely benefit the industry’s CO2 emissions.
Slow steaming is the practice of cutting back on top speeds of vessels to cut back on how much waste they produce. Even a reduction as low as 5% could cut potential emissions by 19% per vessel. Combine that with a full-fleet speed reduction, and the net results could be very beneficial.
