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.