WWL urges yards to be more innovative

With almost all Asian shipyards focusing on increasing their output in order to meet their bulging order backlogs, this is hampering innovation in ship designing according to Arild Iversen, chief executive of Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (WWL). But the shipping industry should prepare for fuel prices of up to $1,000 a tonne he warned, roughly twice today’s levels, and should put more resources into developing efficient vessel designs.

Naval architects in the technical departments of his two shipowner stakeholders are working on super-efficient hull designs for new generation vehicle carriers making the most of the Panama Canal’s intended expansion, he said. Catamaran hulls, for example, could minimise hull resistance while allowing cargo capacities of 8-10,000 vehicle units. WWL, Iversen said, has been ahead of the game on a range of environmental initiatives including tin-free paint, ballast water treatment, green passports for ships and the use of low-sulphur fuel. Iversen announced his company’s latest initiative, the Orcelle Fund, which will provide $100,000 for environmentally-oriented maritime research and development projects. The money will be focused on projects that might not get support elsewhere and would be supplemented with extra cash for promising research to be taken forward.