Many solutions have been proposed for the green transformation of the water transport industry, focusing on green energy and electric energy to replace fossil fuels with high emissions, in line with the trend of sustainable development…

In recent years, the world’s maritime industry has witnessed major changes at a very fast pace, both in terms of chain integration and the increasingly green trend. In particular, tightening regulations on emissions, fuel use, sustainable development and environmental – social – corporate governance (ESG) standards will become important factors to “value” the maritime industry in general and water transport in particular.

GREEN MOVEMENT TRENDS IN THE SHIPPING AND WATER TRANSPORT INDUSTRY

In that trend, in 2023, the world’s largest container shipping line Maersk launched the world’s first container ship powered by green methanol, 7 years earlier than expected. Many short-haul voyages are also being operated by ship operators using battery power to replace fossil fuels, such as ferries and barges. For example, in 2015, the Nordic country of Norway launched a fully electric sea ferry…

In Vietnam, the Ministry of Transport issued Decision No. 2027/QD-BGTVT on October 29, 2020 approving the Green Port Development Project. Accordingly, the pilot project of green ports will be implemented at a number of seaports from 2023 and the plan is to expand this model to other ports by 2050.

In early January 2025, the largest shipping company in France and in the world’s top 10, CMA-CGM, announced that it will implement a project to invest in electric barges to transport goods from Binh Duong to Cai Mep port.

Specifically, CMA-CGM is building a zero-emission inland waterway transport project with battery-powered barges, transporting Nike goods in Binh Duong to Gemalink port (a member of Gemadept) in Cai Mep (Ba Ria – Vung Tau).

According to the company’s calculations, with a round trip of 180 km, this battery-powered barge is expected to reduce 778 tons of carbon dioxide per year compared to barges using diesel engines.

As a partner of CMA-CGM, Gemalink Port – the largest deep-water port in Cai Mep – Thi Vai port area, said it will deploy a solar power system producing 1 GWh of renewable energy per year to support this battery-powered barge.

The coordination and cooperation between the shipping line and the port to implement the project of investing in battery-powered barges running on the inland waterway transport route between CMA-CGM and Gemalink is expected to promote the green supply chain. In fact, many demanding markets in the world such as the US and EU have policies to tighten green standards for products, requiring “greening” of products throughout the supply chain. This has a direct impact on import and export activities in Vietnam, as well as in the supply chains.

BUSINESSES NEED TO PROACTIVELY “ROLL UP YOUR HANDS” TO GET ENGAGED

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) currently has 172 member states and 3 countries with associate membership, is an agency of the United Nations, with the task of cooperating and exchanging information between countries on technical issues affecting maritime transport related to international trade.

IMO promotes the adoption of the highest practical standards in issues related to maritime safety, security, maritime efficiency, prevention and control of marine pollution from ships.

To date, IMO is the leading international organization in regulating and promoting green transformation for the maritime transport industry. The GHG Emission Reduction Strategy aims to reduce total GHG emissions from the shipping industry by at least 50% by 2050 compared to 2008 levels and move towards complete decarbonization.

Among the most important IMO regulations affecting the shipping industry in general and inland waterway transport in particular is the limit on the sulfur content in marine fuels from 3.5% to 0.5%. Sulfur or sulfur oxide (SOx), nitrogen (NOx) are pollutants from fossil fuels with high content; including liquefied nitrogen (NLG) fuel, because NLG itself is also a fossil fuel, although with lower content.

The problem is the standards and regulations in this field in Vietnam. Specifically, according to current regulations, foreign shipping lines can only bring in electric barges for domestic transport enterprises to exploit but are not allowed to directly exploit.

The leader of the Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration (Ministry of Transport) said that currently, the electric motor safety standards and regulations for inspection have been developed. Therefore, if electric motor barges meet the inspection requirements, they can be operated and exploited for transportation.

However, to determine the system serving the operation of electric motor barges in terms of energy consumption, charging stations, efficiency, it takes time to pilot and evaluate.

While waiting for the official set of standards and regulations to be launched and applied, experts said that businesses need to proactively “roll up their sleeves” to join the game. Because if Vietnamese inland waterway transport businesses do not proactively find solutions to convert, when implementing regulations and roadmaps to implement commitments at COP26, they will not have the means to exploit.

Experts also pointed out that the investment in converting ship engines from fossil fuels (diesel…) to electric engines is not a small cost; if investing in a new electric ship to avoid having to continue to renovate and upgrade later, the cost is very high, many businesses may not be able to reach it or give up.

According to: VNeconomy