ADIPEC 2021 Charts The Path To Unlocking Decarbonised Future For Offshore & Marine Industry

The global maritime community convened at the ADIPEC 2021 Offshore and Marine Conference today to explore the critical enablers of decarbonising the industry and ensuring it is on track with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) targets and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Held under the patronage of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and hosted by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), the ADIPEC 2021 Offshore and Marine Conference brings together industry leaders and decision-makers from the global offshore and marine supply chain to meet in-person and identify the strategies and solutions for driving decarbonisation and digitalisation within the offshore and marine sector.

2021 marks a decade of action since the IMO adopted the first set of mandatory energy efficiency measures for ships, fundamentally changing the baseline for the performance of the incoming global fleet in terms of emission reduction.

The IMO’s 2018 Initial Strategy on the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from shipping set key ambitions to reduce CO2 emissions per transport work, as an average across international shipping, by at least 40 percent by 2030, and 70 percent by 2050, compared to 2008. Total annual GHG emissions from international shipping should be reduced by at least 50 percent by 2050 compared to 2008.

The Conference aims to ensure the industry is ready to unlock a decarbonised future, attract the large-scale investments needed to fuel transformative change, enable business growth, capture market opportunities, and embrace the pivotal role of technology and digitalisation in enabling offshore and marine industry growth.

Captain Abdulkareem Al Masabi, CEO, ADNOC Logistics and Services, said, "The global maritime industry is vital for sustaining international relations and trade, and the IMO has given us clear targets to achieve the decarbonising of our operations. Short-term solutions are having an interesting impact and providing us with significant results. As we move towards meeting the IMO’s requirements, these strategic insights will accelerate the industry's ambitious long-term goals.

"The transition to decarbonisation is a game-changer for the industry, but one that is complex and multi-faceted, requiring thought leadership and cross-ocean collaboration to meet the common objective of decarbonising the shipping industry."

Other notable speakers at the Offshore and Marine Conference include Martin Helweg, CEO, P&O Maritime Logistic; Yasser Nassr Zaghloul, Group CEO, National Marine Dredging Company (NMDC); and Guy Platten, Secretary General, International Chamber of Shipping (ICS).

With increased pressure on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the Conference also highlighted the debate around marine fuel choice, quality and operational challenges as critical to developing an industry chart for the future.

Commenting, Christopher Hudson, President of dmg events, the organisers of ADIPEC, said, "Shipping carries 80 percent of the world’s traded goods. The industry recognises that now is a critical time to identify and debate the merits of the best short-, mid-and long-term choice of shipping fuels and to assess whether the industry has the necessary infrastructure to allow these fuels to be the shipping fuels of the future."