Up
to 1.5 billion euro EU funding available for investments in Shipping and
maritime transportations
On
June 13th Hellenic Lloyd’s hosted on board SS Hellas Liberty the
SHIPPING IN 2030 Forum - EU Fuelling the Future. The Key speaker of the event
was Mr José Laranjeira Anselmo, Policy Officer, Trans-European Network,
Directorate General - Mobility and Transport of the EU Commission, who
presented the EU strategy, policies and tools in the implementation of
sustainable marine technology as well as the European Investment Bank (EIB)
initiatives and tools in innovative financing.
Mr Anselmo expressed the EU’s
commitment in funding projects towards sustainable shipping and described the
funds that are currently available to be invested in Maritime Transportation.
He also elaborated on the types of projects that can be eligible: “Any kind of
project can be eligible as far as it is supported by a consistent business
plan: environmentally friendly equipment, ports connection to the inner land,
logistic information systems, training, safety at sea, integration of the ports
and maritime operations within the global transportation chain, scrubbers, LNG
engines, methanol engines, support to shipbuilding in terms of retrofitting
etc”, said Mr Anselmo.
The
aim of the SHIPPING IN 2030 Forum was to bring together major Shipping
representatives as well as representatives of Associations, Ministries,
Financiers, Port Administrators, Shipyards, Educational and Research
Institutions with an EU representative to express their views on the future
developments in the Shipping industry towards a sustainable future, and learn
about the EU initiatives with respect to funding possibilities to this end. The
event proved indeed a unique opportunity for all stakeholders to exchange
opinions and propositions in the sole attempt to achieve real progress in the
shipping industry taking into account the goals set by the EU for 2030 and the
existing possibilities in terms of alternative fuels (such as LNG), innovative
technologies, and innovative financing instruments.
The agenda of the forum included speakers representing a whole range of different stakeholders. The first session covered the challenges and opportunities behind future fuels and new technologies from the perspective of classification societies, shipbuilders, port authorities and owners. In the second session the financial aspects were addressed in terms of how feasible these projects currently are or how far in the future they lie.
The
sessions were followed by a panel discussion chaired by Hellenic Lloyd’s Theodosis
Stamatellos. During the discussion it was made evident that there is
ambition from all stakeholders and that we all need to make a coordinated next
step towards well planned proposals. DGMOVE will be ready to assist and
support every effort towards effective distribution of funds to our Area.
“Next day must find us all working as partners in projects that will lead us in
using our sea as an opportunity for Blue Growth”, Stamatellos commented.
