Classification society DNV on Tuesday (16 July) published a Maritime Impact article on tanker owner International Seaways’s decarbonization journey with the support of DNV:
International Seaways, Inc. embarked on an ambitious journey to put its entire tanker fleet on course for decarbonization, supported by DNV. An overall strategy and decarbonization plans for all vessels will help the company to achieve regulatory compliance in a cost-effective way while reducing business risk.
Achieving greenhouse gas emission compliance for an entire fleet of vessels can be a very complex task, both methodically and financially, and knowing where to start is not the easiest part of it. This is why DNV’s Maritime Advisory team offers a structured approach that helps shipowners develop a fleet-wide decarbonization plan – and engage the organization to support it.
A fast follower: Putting sustainability centre stage
International Seaways, Inc. (INSW) is a well-known New York-based tanker owner with a fleet of roughly 80 vessels of various types and sizes. The company has worked with DNV for many years and turned to DNV for support with its decarbonization strategy and plans. “We are a listed public company, so we have to be very thoughtful about how we invest our money,” explains William Nugent, Senior Vice President and Chief Technical and Sustainability Officer at International Seaways. “Our shareholders expect us to be careful stewards of their investments.”
Seeing the broader trends in the industry and the global drive to decarbonize, INSW wants to be “a fast follower”, he adds. “This means that we need to look at how our existing and future fleet matches IMO’s and Europe’s decarbonization intentions and especially those of our stakeholders.” Sustainability criteria are typically embedded in today’s finance agreements, he points out, lauding the Poseidon Principles, which have helped create a level playing field for the shipping world.
DNV’s strategy report: Guiding INSW towards compliance
The purpose of the fleet-wide decarbonization strategy and plans DNV developed jointly with INSW was to enable the company to meet or exceed the IMO decarbonization trajectories and EU regulations in an economically feasible manner while minimizing business risk. DNV delivered a strategy report to provide INSW with a solid understanding of the regulatory environment and the available options to achieve compliance, including operational optimization recommendations for the years to come. Furthermore, the delivery included a fuel performance management report as well as a roadmap and capital expenditure schedule for every single vessel, delivered on DNV’s Veracity platform.
Periodical updates keep decarbonization plans relevant
Lois Zabrocky, President and Chief Executive Officer of International Seaways, summarizes the objectives: “Of course, we want a plan to reduce our emissions and extend the lifetime of the vessels as much as possible. Today, we have a plan to … look at the trajectory of our emissions and all the available opportunities for us to decarbonize.”
As a living document, the decarbonization plan is reviewed and updated periodically with help from DNV as the INSW organization builds knowledge, experience and confidence.
Alignment throughout the enterprise and beyond
“The first step we embarked on together with DNV was taking the temperature of the organization,” recalls Nugent. All parts of the INSW organization from the CEO down to the crews, along with external partners such as commercial vessel management and charterers, were asked to participate in surveys to provide their views of INSW, their current decarbonization efforts and related questions. “We also conducted a technical review across the fleet and updated our educational processes for the whole organization around what decarbonization means, the goals, issues and challenges,” says Nugent.
Turning evaluation insights into actionable decarbonization plans
“This stepwise effort, guided by DNV, was thoughtful, well-timed and in-depth; it highlighted areas where we were very strong and others where we had work to do. It was presented in a way that was clear, concise and solution-oriented.” The resulting insights enabled INSW to benchmark the company against decarbonization best practices and put in place the decision tools to change the internal dialogue around decarbonization, which took many workshops and meetings involving all levels of the organization. “DNV took an industry’s worth of insights, feedback and knowledge and turned it into something very specific and actionable for International Seaways,” says Nugent.
Note: The full article titled ‘Decarbonization in action: The successful journey of International Seaways with DNV’ can be found here.
Photo credit: International Seaways
Published: 18 July 2024