While the transition process from fossil sources to renewable energy sources is accelerating in the world, approximately 65 percent of the boats launched by Turkish shipyards in 2023 in terms of tonnage will be “green ships”.
The transition from fossil sources to clean and renewable energy sources is accelerating in many areas around the world, from electricity production to electric vehicles and green fuel ships. In this field, the Turkish shipping industry also focuses on green ship production, which aims to minimize carbon emissions in the fuel consumption of ships.
In this context, Turkish shipyards produced many ships such as electric ferries, LNG (liquefied natural gas) passenger ferries and electric harbor tugboats in 2023. While the total ship production of the shipyards last year was 79 thousand 144 gross tons on a tonnage basis, 49 thousand 417 gross tons of this were green ships.
Tamer Kıran, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Istanbul and Marmara, Aegean, Mediterranean and Black Sea Regions (İMEAK) Chamber of Shipping, stated in his evaluation of the work of Turkish shipyards that Turkey has become a country that has achieved great success in ship construction, repair, maintenance and repair. “As of 2023, our number of shipyards has increased to 85 and our annual production capacity has increased to 4.8 million deadweight tons.” he said.
Kıran noted that the most important market of Türkiye’s shipbuilding industry is Europe and said, “The Green Deal of the European Union has led to a focus on different areas and, in this context, an increase in orders for environmentally friendly, alternative fuel, electric and hybrid ships.” made his assessment.
Türkiye is the leader in fishing vessel exports
Kıran pointed out that the shipbuilding industry, which had difficulty in receiving new shipbuilding orders during the 2008 global economic crisis and the subsequent pandemic period, turned to special purpose shipbuilding due to this new situation, in addition to defense industry projects and maintenance-repair activities.
Emphasizing that they produce high value-added marine vehicles in their shipyards, Kıran said, “Our shipbuilding industry is proud to produce many firsts and innovations in this rapid transformation process. As of 2023, approximately 65 percent of our country’s shipbuilding industry production will be green ships. “Approximately 60 percent of the ships produced in our shipyards are exported to European countries, and the majority of them are green ships.” he said.
Giving an example of green ships produced in Turkish shipyards, Kıran continued as follows:
“Among the high value-added ships built especially in Turkish shipyards, the world’s largest fully electric ferry, the world’s largest battery capacity LNG passenger ferry, the world’s first battery-powered fully electric harbor tug, the world’s first LNG fueled tugboat, the world’s first dynamic positioning 2 system The twin-hull electric offshore wind turbine support ship, the world’s largest longliner and Danish Seiner fishing ship, and the world’s largest live fish transport ship are indicators of the latest stage we have reached in marine technology.
Such firsts and orders received from developed countries such as the Netherlands, Norway and Finland have enabled our shipbuilding industry to become a world brand, and our shipyards have now become the second in the world in the production of megayachts and tugboats, the sixth in the world in the production of ferries and tour boats, and the first in the world in the export of fishing vessels. ”
Maritime transport transports cargo with minimal emissions
Kıran pointed out that maritime transportation is more environmentally friendly than other types of transportation in terms of carbon emissions and said:
“Maritime transportation is the lifeblood and backbone of world trade and the global economy. It is also seen that maritime transport transports cargo cheaply, in large volumes and with a minimum environmental footprint. When transporting 1 ton of cargo to a distance of 1 kilometer, carbon dioxide emissions are 6 times higher by rail, 19 times more by land, and 90 times by air compared to sea transportation. Despite this, both the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the EU have implemented a number of measures. IMO aims to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions around 2050 with the 2023 greenhouse gas reduction strategy target.”
Stating that the EU, on the other hand, claimed that IMO did not carry out greenhouse gas reduction activities fast enough and implemented harsher measures, Kıran said that within the framework of the EU Green Deal, ships coming to EU ports and voyaging between EU ports were included in the scope of the EU Emission Trading System as of January 1, 2024. He stated that the Turkish-owned ship fleet is expected to pay approximately 200-250 million euros annually to EU countries for voyages to the European Economic Area.
Kıran emphasized that the Turkish maritime sector carefully monitors the measures taken within and outside maritime regarding climate change and supports the IMO 2023 greenhouse gas emission reduction strategy from ships, and continued his words as follows:
“The industry is making serious efforts for the development of zero-emission ships and the decarbonization of the maritime sector. In order to achieve these targets, the construction of ships using renewable alternative fuels with low or zero greenhouse gas emissions is required, and the renewal of 102 thousand ships in the world is on the agenda by 2050. Our country’s shipyards are among the top 3 countries in the world that build battery-powered ships that primarily use electrical energy, and then started the construction of ships using hydrogen, methanol and LNG fuel.”
Stating that conversion projects aimed at increasing the energy efficiency of existing ships have begun to be implemented in Turkish shipyards, Kıran stated that conversion projects such as high-efficiency propellers and rudder-propellers that increase propulsion efficiency have been successfully implemented and that work in this field will continue.
